E-Newsletter -- 5/1/08

The team has had a successful spring season so far.

At the Murphy Cup, the freshman 8 earned 4th place in the final of their event with a time of 6:20.1 and the JV 8 earned 3rd place in their heat with a time of 6:08.3. The varsity 8 fought their way into the grand final where they finished in 6th place with a time of 6:04.3, thus earning a 9th place ranking in the inaugural American Collegiate Rowing Association men’s varsity 8 poll.

Against the University of Pittsburgh and Susquehanna University at home, the varsity and junior varsity boats won first and second place in the varsity 8 event in 5:05.1 and 5:13.3. A varsity 4 was boated and earned 2nd place in 5:45.2.

In New Jersey, Brian Burke ’98 organized the Knecht Cup for Villanova University, which saw our freshman 8 earn 2nd place in the grand final with 6:09.7, the junior varsity 8 earn 3rd place in the final of the club 8 event in 6:27.0, and the varsity 8 place 4th in the petite final of their event in 6:03.0.

Back on the Schuylkill River for the Kerr Cup, the team had a great showing winning every event entered! The freshman 8 won their event in 6:18.3, the JV 8 won in 6:23.5, while the varsity 8 concluded the day with a victory in 5:55.2.

Most recently, at the Patriot League Challenge, scheduling prevented boating all three 8’s. However a strong performance was posted against league rivals as the varsity 8 earned 3rd place in 6:29.7 and the JV 8 2nd with a time of 6:36.7.

Alumni Support Needed

Our team is a fine program and with the financial support of our alumni and the leadership of Paul it will continue to succeed and produce outstanding rowers and individuals. Go here to learn how to set up a monthly credit card transaction to make a direct and immediate impact on the men’s rowing program.

Dad Vail Regatta 2008

In a week and a half, the team will begin their championship season at the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia. This year’s Vails will hopefully be just as exciting as last year’s which saw the freshman 8 win the team’s first ever Dad Vail gold.

All alumni are encouraged to attend the finals on Saturday and even the heats on Friday—if you can’t skip out of work just keep your cell phone available for the play by play, the BCA is sure to have a representative present for most of the races.

Friday

• 9:06-9:41 Men’s Pair w/o heats
• 10:23-10:48 Men’s Varsity 8 heats
• 2:47-2:57 Men’s Varsity 8 repechages
• 4:12-4:22 Men’s JV 8 heats

Saturday

• 8:35-8:49 Men’s Pair w/o semi-finals
• 10:40-10:50 Men’s Varsity 8 semi-finals
• 2:00 Men’s Pair w/o final
• 2:20 Men’s JV 8 final
• 3:50 Men’s Varsity 8 petite final
• 4:20 Men’s Varsity 8 grand final

The team tent will be near the top of the island at position #37 on Friday and Saturday. Go here for directions, a map of the regatta site and parking information.

E-Newsletter -- 3/26/08

Save October 4th, 2008 for Bucknell Crew!

25 years after our founding in 1982, we will be celebrating the men’s and women’s programs in Lewisburg this fall. All alumni are invited to return to Lewisburg for the 25th year anniversary celebration which will include socializing, dining, maybe some golfing, and of course rowing. More details forthcoming.

Erg Armageddon

The team did great at this year’s Armageddon as they brought in all of the hardware from the freshmen heavyweight 2,000 meter and the freshmen 500 meter events, bronze in the freshmen lightweight event, silver and bronze in the varsity lightweight event, gold in the varsity heavyweight event, and even victories in the coxswain events and mixed events with the women’s team. Great job all around!

BCA Networking Program

The BCA would like to encourage all interested alumni to participate in a low-commitment networking program with current team members. The BCA Networking Program allows alumni to answer questions received via email from current rowers about similar academic majors, graduate school plans, and career interests. This is not intended to be a forum for job offers or internships, but rather simply an opportunity for alumni to answer questions from and provide advice to team members. The small time commitment would consist of responding to occasional emails from eager student-athletes. If you are interested in being involved please contact Ben Finio ‘07 at bfinio @ fas.harvard.edu.

Next Race: Murphy Cup – 3/29/08

This weekend the Bucknell men’s and women’s rowing teams will be racing on the Schuylkill at Temple’s Murphy Cup. This will be a well-earned race for the team—as our alumni recall.

The Murphy Cup is usually the first big regatta after months of tedious erging that are interrupted only by brief periods of excitement for Erg Armageddon and maybe a Spring Break scrimmage or two. So energy and anticipation levels are always high for the Murphy Cup.

Even more so for the current team since they were unable to compete last fall--not that you would have known from their Erg Armageddon performances!

For all of our Philadelphia-area alumni, with an Erg Armageddon performance like that, you will not want to miss out on the races this weekend. So don’t forget your parking pass.

E-Newsletter -- 2/4/08

As many of you have heard, the men’s team has faced a particularly challenging fall season due to allegations of hazing. Although sanctions were imposed on the men’s team, the University Task Force found that hazing did not take place at the event in questions, so the team has taken the sanctions in stride and Coach Bugenhagen has used this as an opportunity to develop stronger men of character and integrity. On behalf of the team, the BCA would like to thank all of you for your support during this challenging time.

As Coach and team look forward to a productive and exciting spring racing season, the BCA is focusing on providing the needed funds to continue the team’s success following a Dad Vail championship this past May. Based on recommendations from the BCA Board of Directors, Coach Bugenhagen has been working to develop a more competitive team.

Efforts include: purchasing a new boat to accommodate the increased team size, purchasing a men’s team trailer to enable travel independent of the women’s team, racing faster opponents, and securing the funds to hire an assistant coach for the freshmen squad to allow Coach Bugenhagen to focus solely on the varsity squad.

Next Race: Erg Armageddon – 2/10/08

This Saturday will be the 12th running of Erg Armageddon. For all of our alumni that graduated before 1997, that was the year Bucknell began hosting an invitational erg sprints. In 1997, the Bucknell erg sprints actually began in a corner of Gerhard Fieldhouse. It was not until 1999, that the erg sprints as we now know them were born in Davis Gym. Jeff Rogan ’01 described it thusly: “On Sunday, February 21 [1999], Bucknell University held its Third Erg Sprint competition, re-christened this year as “ERG ARMAGEDDON.” As the name implies, the competition is one of pure individual merit- of human drive and determination against an unforgiving and relentless machine.”

Over the years Davis Gym has seen competitors from schools across Pennsylvania and New York including: Albright College, Allegheny, Dickinson, Fordham, Franklin & Marshall, Lafayette, LaSalle, Lehigh, Penn State, RIT, Susquehanna, and SUNY Binghamton. Back in 1999 before he moved to sunny California, Derek Updegraff ’93 noted, “I never had the opportunity to have something like this when I rowed here. It is a great event to have at home.” With reliable competition every year, Erg Armageddon always provides Bucknell men with a great end to winter training and an early indicator of spring racing success.