The Bucknell Men traveled to New Brunswick, NJ this past weekend to compete against Rutgers University. Conditions were great for racing, a light breeze did not interfere with abundant sunshine and temperatures in the mid 60’s, as well as a slack tide on the Raritan River.
The first race of the day was the Varsity Eight. Things did not start well for the 1V, as they dug themselves an early length deficit. Having the inside turn on the course, the Bison started to close the gap moving into the second half of the race, but a strong Rutgers push minimized Bucknell’s move. The last couple hundred meters saw a furious charge from the Bison come up just short. Bucknell would finish two seconds behind Rutgers. The 1V was rowed by Doug Burney ’16, Mike Savage ’19, Sam Jubb ’17, Billy Pinamont ‘17, Jack Shelton ’18, John Leasure ’19, Dillon LaFata ’18, Ryan Thompson ’16, and was coxed by Perry Hamilton ’18.
The Second Varsity Eight was up next and like their varsity counterparts found themselves in an early hole. The 2V never quite found a rhythm over the course of their piece and saw the Rutgers crew slowly but surely pull away. The 2V would finish 5 seconds off of Rutgers 2V. The 2V was rowed by Nick Barpoulis ’17, John Morcos ’19, Pat Long ’18, Thomas Marth ’19, Mike Pallotta ’18, Andrew Vinnik ’17, Sam Wiley ’16, Lucas Colagrossi ’17, and was coxed by Henry Leonardi ’18.
The Freshmen Eight had a rough showing in their race. Rutgers surged out to an early length lead, and the Bison never settled down into a race pace. Halfway through the race audio in the boat cut out, leaving the coxswain to scream instructions, but Rutger’s lead was insurmountable by this point. The 1F would finish eight seconds behind the Scarlet Knights. The 1F was rowed by David Ruf, Alex Owen, Drew Stonnington, Dabreon Darby, Kyle Shtern, Ryan McSherry, Grant Accurso, Gunnar Vorwerk, and was coxed by Nicole Finan.
The Third Varsity Eight was the last race of the morning. Dealing with several last minute lineup changes the boat looked vastly different from the boat that competed well against Rutgers at the Knecht Cup, but expectations were still high. A strong start saw the 3V moving well in the first couple hundred meters, but a powerful cadence from Rutgers saw the Scarlet Knights start to move away. The Bison could not keep pace, and would finish 9 seconds off of Rutgers. The 3V was rowed by Christian Daugherty ’18, James Koenigsberg ’18, Duncan Ragland ’19, Ryan Wang ’19, Gary Tse ’19, Mike Birosak ’18, Jacopo Baldi ‘19, Chris Bowdler ’19, and was coxed by Robert Bellantoni ’19.
The Bucknell Men will be in action again next week at the Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference Championship, in Lewisberry, PA on Lake Pinchot. We hope to see everyone there!