May 13, 2006

PHILADELPHIA -

May 13, 2006

PHILADELPHIA - Advancing seven crews to the finals with six collecting medals, Saint Joseph's captured the 2006 Dad Vail Regatta, winning the title for the second straight year and retaining the prestigious Jack Bratten trophy emblematic of the overall points champion. The SJU men were again dominant winning the Dr. Thomas Kerr Trophy as the men's team champions for the third time in the last four years. Gold medals by the women's Varsity 8 and both the men's Freshmen 8 and Frosh Lightweight 8 highlighted the weekend's performances. Final race results are available at www.dadvail.org.

The Women's Varsity 8 composed of Kate Parry (cox), Brianna Kearns, Amanda Holland, Liz Sauter, Meghan Henry, Jenn Linck, Lauren Sysol, Kaitie Reehill and Debbie Bateman took home the top individual prize helping SJU claim a victory in the event for the first time in program history. The crew won its semifinal heat and then edged nemesis Massachusetts for the gold medal and the Bergman Trophy in the final with a time of 6:40.02.

The men, meanwhile, advanced five boats to the finals with four capturing medals, including a pair of golds and two silvers.

Both the men's Freshman and Lightweight Freshman 8 crews were victorious. The Freshman 8, which included James O'Donoghue, Brett Cavanaugh, Sean King, Larry Maher, Jack Drewniak, Sean Riley, Mike Wingrove, Jon Schneckenburger and Mark DelGuercio (cox), were virtually unstoppable all weekend long. The Frosh 8 posted victories in all three of its races, besting runner-up Florida Tech in the final with a time of 6:04.32 to take home the Lev Brett Bowl for the second time in three years.

The Freshman Lightweight 8 of Dan McCann, Mike Morris, Kevin Milazzo, James Thornton, Kevin Connors, Jordan Marwin, Kevin Burrows, Mike Boone and Mario Medori (cox) maintained its strangle-hold on the event, winning the Brendan Lynch trophy for the fourth straight year. The Hawks bested a field that included the likes of Purdue, Georgia, Penn State and Clemson with a time of 6:21.45.

In addition to the freshmen, the men also took home silver medals in the Varsity Lightweight 8 and JV8 events. Bronze medalists the past two years, the Lightweight 8 of Kevin Jacobs, Steve Ramsey, William West, Mike Santoro, Adam Stoll, Marc Mallott, Joe D'Amato, Devlin Murdock and John Hayes (cox) finished second in 2006. The Hawks won their semifinal heat and then were clipped by Georgia Tech in the final despite posting an impressive time of 5:55.84 in the final.

The JV 8 which included Bill Fox, Jon Romvary, Gavin Adams, Mike Jacob, Mike Aurillio, Justin Jones, Dave Naab, Jeff Schaetzle and Stephanie Gehringer (cox) medaled for the third straight year, placing second in a time of 5:53.03.

The final medal of the weekend was won by the women's Freshman 8 of Ashley Morrison (cox), Alison Toner, Kate Macturk, Liz Sauter, Alison Gallagher, Mary Seery, Kaitlin Bonaskiewicz, Gina Barbone, Hilary Armstrong. After a second place finish in the morning's semifinals, SJU took bronze with a time of 7:08.59 in the final.

The men's Varsity 8 crew of Alex DiBiasi, Andrew Friedlander, Dan Lachant, Mike Leahy, Wayne Zimmer, Adrian Gherca, Dan Fazio, Sean Flynn and Charlie Koob (cox) advanced to the Petite Final, placing third in the event in a time of 5:55.05.

Both the men's and women's Lightweight 4 boats which advanced to Saturday's semifinals were unable to advance to the final.. The men placed fourth, while the women were sixth in their respective semifinal heats.