The Bucknell Men competed in the 50th Annual Head of the Charles Regatta on October 18th and 19th. The Head of the Charles is the largest 2-day regatta in the world, and brings in some of the best rowers in the world to the premier fall race. The first Bucknell boat to compete on the weekend was the Alumni 8 composed of Jackson McCarron ’14, Michael Sena ’12, Matt Sisto ’14, John Kauffman ‘ 11, Rob Blakemore ‘08, Paul DeGregorio ’13, Andy McLaughlin ’12, and Ethan Zubkoff ’14. The Alumni went on to finish 25th out of 55 entries in a time of 16:26.99. This finish, in the top half of the field, guarantees the Bucknell Alumni an entry in this event for next year as well.
The next event on Saturday for Bucknell was the Club 8+ event. Saturday was a warm fall day, which lead to fast times on the Charles, with many course records falling in the 50th edition. The Bison Club 8+, made up of Freshman Cox Henry Leonardi, Fr. Stroke Johnny Gleason, Soph. Lucas Colagrossi, Jr. Nate Coffin, Fr. Dylan O’Connor,Sr. William Fierman, Fr. Jack Shelton, Jr. Sam Wiley and Soph. Bow Sam Jubb performed will over the winding 3 mile course to finish a respectable 21st out of 47 crews with a time of 15:51.06.
It was then back to the hotel for the night until Sunday’s events. Sunday was a much cooler day, as the Bison competed in the Collegiate 8+ event with Fr. Cox Suzie Zubkoff, Sr. Stroke Billy Tyler, Sr. Alex Moore, Sr. Crawford Morris, Sr. Tyler Bogaczyk, Soph. William Pinamont, Soph. Andrew Vinnik, Jr. Ryan Thompson and Jr. Bow Doug Burney. Bucknell saw great competition from many spring rivals, and managed to finish 13th out of44 crews with a final time of 15:53.30.
For the first time Bucknell will look forward to three guaranteed entries at the 51st Head of the Charles Regatta, as all three Bison entries finished within the top half of their events. The Charles also saw new and returning Bucknell rowers stepping up into new roles within the program, and seeing higher levels of competition from their competitors. The team is looking forward to the continued challenge of working together to improve daily. The team will have some fun this weekend with some class races, as all four classes, freshmen through seniors, will create class boats in pairs, fours, and eights, and compete for class bragging rights. We will then compete at our final competition of the fall season on November 8th at the Rutgers Fall Classic in New Brunswick, NJ on the Raritan River!