Oct. 15, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint men's rowing team began its 2007-08 season on the right foot by winning two of the five events entered at the Navy Day Regatta on the Schuylkill River.

Under sunny skies and cool temperatures, the Hawks started the day with a third-place finish (out of 18 entries) in the College 4 event, placing behind Navy and Rutgers, but ahead of Temple, USMMA, Army and Penn. In the second event of the day for the Hawks, the College Lightweight 4, SJU rowed an aggressive race to best Georgetown by two seconds for the first victory of the day. The Hawks posted a time of 14:48.1 to lead the seven boat field.

The SJU Freshmen had a strong start to their collegiate rowing careers finishing fourth and eighth in a field of 17 entries. The SJU A boat posted a time of 14:12.7, only three seconds behind third place Penn and 24 seconds ahead of USMMA, which took fifth.

The SJU College 4 and College Lightweight 4 joined forces to compete in the College 8 event for their second race of the day. Rowing into a stronger headwind, the undersized Hawks proved that power isn't the only way to move a shell. The SJU men managed to build speed throughout their race for a solid second-place finish behind the Naval Academy and ahead of foes Delaware, Temple, Georgetown, Drexel, Army, and Lehigh. The second-place finish wass the best finish ever for the Hawks in College 8 event at Navy Day.

In the last race of the day for the Hawks, the Dad Vail 8, SJU's 2nd Varsity 8 rowed a confident rhythm and mirrored the race plan of the Varsity 8 by building speed throughout the 4,000-meter race. They earned the second gold medal of the day for the Hawks, besting second-place Loyola by a comfortable 23 seconds.

The Hawks return to action next weekend when they send two boats to the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.