E-Newsletter -- 10/22/08

The October 4th Reunion was a great gathering in Lewisburg celebrating 25 years of rowing at Bucknell. For 25 years, Bucknell Crew has developed strong rowers, exceptional student athletes, and enduring friendships—all of which was highlighted and celebrated during the reunion weekend.

Saturday morning, alumni, friends, families, students, and parents gathered at the boathouse for the dedication of the team’s new 4. “The Class of 1993” was named after rowers from ’93 who have self-mobilized to challenge themselves to match gifts over the next two years to provide for the team’s daily operations and coaches’ salaries.

After the boat dedication, over 20 alumni from diverse class years and a handful of current team members rowed out in four eights. With spectators cheering from shore and safety launches, Paul coached the boats giving the alumni a brief look into a current team racing practice. The highlight for alumni was the opportunity to race one more time.

Saturday evening, men’s and women’s team alumni were treated to speeches and memories shared by alumni spanning all 25 years of team history along with a formal dinner in the Terrace Room. The highlight of the evening was when the keynote speaker, Jason Reed, bow seat of the 2004 Olympic champion USA men’s eight, shared some of the lessons he has learned during his career from rowing at Temple to rowing and winning at the Olympics.

Also at the reunion, Coach Bugenhagen presented the strong competitive and financial state of the team address to the alumni in attendance. The state of the team is strong thanks to Coach’s leadership and the financial support of alumni and parents, though a pressing need was identified for the team to have their own boat trailer. In honor of 25 years of rowing, gifts were pledged on the spot for over $5,000 toward the men’s team trailer. An additional $7,000 is still needed to reach the goal of the men’s team trailer.

Any friends of the team who missed the reunion weekend but would still like to take part in the 25th Anniversary boat trailer gift are encouraged to contact Coach Bugenhagen at pab031 @ bucknell.edu.

During the reunion weekend the BCA organized a new fundraising and communication network focused on representatives from each class year communicating with the rowers from their years. Class year representatives will be the point person for bringing more members of their class year up to speed on current team news and fundraising goals. We already have volunteers representing 18 of the 25 class years; however, class year representatives are still needed for ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’94, ’95, and ’99. Any graduates from those years who would like to volunteer can contact Ben Finio at bfinio @ fas.harvard.edu.

Head of the Schuylkill Regatta

The 2008 – ‘09 Bucknell Men’s Crew season is underway! The team posted strong results at the Head of the Genesee two weeks ago, check out the results here.

The second race of the fall will be the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, a 2.5 mile race in Philadelphia, PA. This year’s Head of the Schuylkill will be the first occurrence of this race since 2005. For each of the past two years, this annual tradition was cancelled due to inclement weather.

The Bucknell men will be competing with two entries in each of the Freshman 8 and Championship 8 events on Saturday, October 25th. Alumni in the Philadelphia region are invited to come to the race and cheer Bucknell down the Schuylkill.

For more information about this weekend’s schedule, interested alumni can visit the HOSR webpage here.

E-Newsletter -- 5/21/08

At the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia last weekend, the men's varsity pair won their heat in 7:16.4, the 4th fastest time of all of the heats. The pair advanced to the semi-finals on Saturday morning where they place 4th, just missing the final by 3 seconds.

The men's varsity eight had a strong showing in the heat at Dad Vails, placing 3rd of 5 in 5:53.8, though not enough to avoid a trip to the repechages. Once there, the boat again finished 3rd of 5 missing advancement to the semi-finals on Saturday.

The men's junior varsity eight advanced to the semi-finals with a 3rd place finish in their heat in 6:02.6. In the semi-finals, the boat finished in 6th place.

Don’t Forget: 25th Reunion 10/4/08

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.

Alumni Accomplishments and Team History

In preparation for the 25th year reunion, all interested alumni can read about the team history as well as a history of US National team participation by our alumni at the BCA webpage here. You can also catch up with the current coaching positions of our alumni on the webpage.

To keep our webpage as well as alumni contact information up to date, please send along any updates to your information and preferred method of communication to the BCA, as well as edit your profile at MyBucknell.

American Collegiate Rowing Association Championship

There is a new championship race on the schedule this year. In addition to the Dad Vail Regatta, the first American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) national championship regatta is slated for this weekend, May 24-25, on the Oklahoma River in Oklahoma City with Bucknell in attendance. The ACRA is focused on establishing a national championship event for collegiate rowing teams who are not eligible to compete in the NCAA and potentially IRA championships.

Regarding changes to the IRA championships Gregg Hartsuff, University of Michigan Men’s Rowing head coach and president of the new organization explained, “for men, the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) regatta has long been recognized as the championship event. However a proposed new IRA rule change means that after this year, men’s club crews may no longer be eligible to participate.” See row2k for further information about the IRA.

Representation from over 30 of the nation’s best collegiate club programs have committed to competing at this weekend’s inaugural ACRA national championship! This includes all of the major players in college club rowing: Michigan, Virginia, Purdue, UCLA, Delaware, and of course Bucknell. Oklahoma City will be a new and exciting venue for Bucknell Crew. As well for all of our alumni closer to the center of the country than our typical east coast race venues.

Attempting to improve upon their performance from Dad Vails, the team will be fielding a slightly different line-up this weekend. The Bucknell freshmen will be boating their top 8 in the freshman 8 event and the upperclassmen will be leading the way in the varsity 8 event. For more information about this weekend’s schedule, interested alumni can visit the ACRA webpage here.

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.