The Bucknell Men continued the 2016 championship season last weekend at the Dad Vail Regatta. The Dad Vail, the largest collegiate regatta in the world, promised fierce competition for the Bison. Despite a threat of bad weather all weekend, conditions ultimately proved favorable. The Bison would race a varsity eight, second varsity eight, third varsity eight, freshmen eight, and varsity four.
Due to a schedule readjustment, the varsity eight was the first race of the day on Friday. The 1V was in a fast heat and would place third behind Drexel and UNC, forcing them to row in an afternoon rep. The 1V easily qualified out of their rep, advancing them to a semi-final the next day. A fast semi-final saw the Bison finish in 5th place, not qualifying them for the petite or grand final. 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 a second place finish saw the 2V advance to semi’s the next day. A strong showing in the heat had the 2V feeling confident for the semi-final, but a solid race never materialized and the 2V would finish in 5th place, missing out on a final appearance. The 2V was rowed by Nick Barpoulis ’17, John Morcos ’19, Sam Wiley ’16, Thomas Marth ’19, Mike Pallotta ’18, Drew Vinnik ’17, Duncan Ragland ’19, Lucas Colagrossi ’17, and was coxed by Henry Leonardi ’18.
The third varsity eight threw everything they had into their semi-final and found themselves in a qualifying spot with 1000 meters to go. Rowing against a strong Army crew the Bison held their own, but the strength of Army was just too much to bear. Bucknell would finish in 4th place, just missing out on qualifying for the grand final. The 3V was rowed by Gary Tse ’19, Andrew Carstensen ’19, Jacopo Baldi ’19, Ryan Wang ’19, Chris Bowdler ’19, Nick Paray ’19, Nick Huang ’19, Mike Birosak ’18, and was coxed by Robert Bellantoni ’19.
The freshmen eight fought their way out of a strong morning heat, finishing just behind Michigan and Army. This qualified them for a semi-final spot. Knowing they would have to have a quick start to keep pace with the lead boats in their race, the 1F charged off the line, opening up a lead on Grand Valley and trailing just behind Drexel and Delaware. But as the 1F fell into the body of their race Grand Valley managed to pull even, then push through the Bison. The 1F would just miss out on a grand final position. The 1F was rowed by David Ruf, Alex Owen, Dabreon Darby, Andrew Stonnington, Ryan McSherry, Kyle Shtern, Grant Accurso, Gunnar Vorwerk, and was coxed by Nicole Finan.
The varsity four was the final race and due to a large number of entries, had to race in a morning time trial to advance. The V4 just managed to advance, finishing in 18th place in the time trial. Despite a strong race in their semi, the V4 would finish in 6th. The V4 was rowed by Pat Long ’18, James Koenisberg ’18, Christian Daugherty ’18, Nate Coffin ’16, and was coxed by Emilee Bae ’18.
The Bison will conclude their season in next week at the 2016 American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship, held on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. We hope to see you there!