April 25, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - This past weekend 47 members of the SJU Men's Rowing team traveled to Indianapolis to compete in an invitational regatta hosted by the University of Michigan and the Indianapolis Rowing Center. Competing against a field of 14 teams the Hawks five boats earned two gold medals, two silvers and one fourth place finish.

Despite a long day of travel on Friday, the Hawks woke up on Saturday ready to race. In morning heat races the Freshmen 8 and Varsity 8 both qualified for the afternoon grand finals. The Varsity Lightweight 8 earned the first gold medal of the day by soundly defeating Mercyhurst, Northwestern, Purdue, and Minnesota in their final only race. The 2nd Varsity and 3rd Varsity 8's both raced well but finished second to crews from Michigan in their respective morning finals.

In the afternoon finals the Freshmen 8 of John Schneckenberger, Michael Wingrove, Jordan Marwin, Jack Drewniak, Larry Maher, Sean King, Brett Cavanaugh, James O'Donaghue, and coxswain Mark DelGreccio put on a strong performance for their first victory of the year over a field that included Michigan, Purdue, Ohio St., Michigan State, and Minnesota. The undersized Hawk boat (with five rowers under 165 lbs.) managed to power through the other crews in the final 1000 meters despite a strong headwind.

In the other afternoon final the Varsity 8 struggled to find its rhythm and lost connection to Michigan and Marietta in the 2nd 500 meters of the race. Michigan (nationally ranked # 13) went on to the victory with Marietta and Purdue finishing ahead of the Hawks as well.

In an exhibition race for teams points the SJU Varsity Lightweight 8 and 2nd Varsity 8 took the water in the afternoon to race the 2nd Varsity shells from Michigan and Notre Dame, the Vlt shells from Northwestern and Mercyhurst, and the 3V from Michigan. Prior to the race the stroke seat of the SJU Vlt 8 became ill and the line-up was adjusted by using a spare lightweight oarsmen. In the closest race of the day (0.8 seconds) the Hawk lightweights were edged out by the Michigan 2nd Varsity with the Hawk 2nd Varsity finishing in 3rd place.

The Hawks will be in action again this weekend when they host the University of Delaware on the Schuylkill River. Racing begins at 12:30 PM.