Oct. 23, 2008

BOSTON, MASS. - The Saint Joseph's men's rowing team participated in the Head of the Charles Regatta on October 18-19, which is the premier fall rowing in the nation. The two-day event featured 8,200 competitors from 18 different countries racing in 52 separate events.

The Hawks received two entries and competed in the Championship 8 and Lightweight 8 events against the top U.S. colleges as well as international elite athletes and even Olympic medal winners from the 2008 Beijing Games.

Prior to the first "official SJU boat" taking to the water, SJU freshman lightweight rower Sean Stewart competed in the Club Single event for Malta Boat Club in Philadelphia. Having earned a Charles entry while in high school, Sean cross-trained in the single scull this fall in preparation for the race. Despite a 10-second penalty for a steering violation, Sean rowed an aggressive race and managed to finish 17th out of a field of 57.

The Hawks' Varsity Lightweight 8 bounced back from a poor performance the previous week at the Navy Day Regatta with a new lineup, that included two freshmen, and put in a solid row to finish 15th, but 10th among United States colleges. Senior captain Jordan Marwin was pleased by the crew's progress and said, "We had a better row today and managed to sustain a good rhythm all the way down the course. I think we can still gain a lot more speed as our conditioning gets better over the remainder of the fall and winter". The lightweight shell featured coxswain Sarah Jost, stroke seat Mike Gibel, 7-seat Kevin Burrows, 6-seat Adam Iaccio, 5-seat Justin Gentile, 4-seat Brandon Hanna, 3-seat Michael Wingrove, 2-seat Jordan Marwin, and bow seat Conor Malone.

The Varsity Heavyweight 8 competed in the Championship 8 Event, which featured all three medal winners from the 2008 IRA National Championships, as well as composite national team boats from France, Turkey, Great Britain and others. The level of competition was extremely high and unfortunately, the level of the Hawks' performance fell short. After several lineup switches this week, including the addition of two freshman oarsmen, the Hawks struggled to find their rhythm in practice. During the race the boat managed bursts of good rhythm and speed but couldn't sustain it for the 3-mile course. The Hawks finished a disappointing 34th, which was 25th among U.S. colleges. The SJU shell consisted of coxswain Paul Leggieri, stroke seat Tim Foley, 7-seat Tim Strybuck, 6-seat Jack Drewniak, 5-seat Glenn Griffin, 4-seat Dan Gallagher, 3-seat Tyler Huck, 2-seat Ryan Huck, and bow seat Sean King.

Head coach Drew Hill ('74) was still pleased with the weekend. "It was a beautiful weekend, the guys had a lot of fun, and both boats moved well for a least a portion of the race," said Hill. "While I am disappointed with the finish of the Varsity 8, we still made progress this week and the guys learned that rhythm is perhaps more important than strength. If you don't swing together, the boat won't go fast no matter how strong you are. Also, it is great to get the opportunity to compete on such a high level because it shows our guys where they can go with enough hard work. The top four colleges in the Championship 8 Event (Washington, Brown, California and Northeastern) all managed to beat a British boat that contained several Olympic medalists. That sets the bar very high."

The Hawks will look to make more progress and test their speed again this weekend at the Head of the Schuylkill on Saturday, October 25th. In addition, the Varsity Lightweight 8 will be again taking on all the top collegiate lightweight teams on Sunday, October 26th at the Princeton Chase.