The Bucknell Men competed in the 4th regatta of the 2015 season this past Saturday, April 18th, at the Kerr Cup on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, PA. Racing conditions proved to be almost ideal, with temperatures in the mid 70’s and moderate winds.
The first race on the morning was the men’s Varsity Pair. As the only event without a coxswain, the lack of a buoyed course presented challenges for all crews in the event. Despite this the Bison pair performed well in their first ever pair race. They would finish in 5th place, less than 8 seconds begin the 4th place crew from Colgate. The pair was made up of Michael Birosak ’18 and James Boothe ’18.
The Freshmen Eight was the next event on the day. The crew advanced out of their morning heat, only 3 seconds behind the 1st place Drexel crew. The final would prove to be a tight event with 4 crews within 5 seconds of one another. The Bison had a slow start and found themselves on the back foot early in the race. They did not lose confidence, however, and started to move back up on the field. With less than 500 meters to go the Bison started their charge to the line, and moved through La Salle. The line came too soon and the 1F finished in a close 4th, just a second behind 3rd place Lehigh. The Freshmen Eight was made up of Pat Long, James Koenigsberg, Mike Pallotta, Dylan O’Connor, Luke Goodwin, Ben Claytor, Christian Daugherty, Cameron Williams, and was coxed by Nick Asaro.
The Varsity Four found themselves in a good heat and with a very fast start easily managed to advance to the final. Conditions changed slightly, with a cross-head wind picking up slightly before their final. Still the Bison went off the line very fast and were up with most of the field through the first 500 meters. At the halfway mark the V4 started to fall back as the top 3 crews moved up. The Bison were still being pressed from the 5th and 6th place crews, but a strong sprint ensured they would finish in 4th place, ahead of St. Josephs and Haverford. The V4 was made up of Nick Barpoulis ‘17, Shawn Gilhooley ‘18, Will Fierman ‘15, Victor Young ‘17, and was coxed by Perry Hamilton ‘18.
The Second Varsity Eight made it through what seemed to be a tough heat very easily, finishing less than 5 seconds behind Drexel, to advance into the final. The shortest turnaround on the day meant the 2V had less than 2 hours to prepare for their final. Drexel managed to move away on the field, but the Bison found themselves next to St. Josephs, in another battle between the two boats (this being the 4th time they had raced each other on the season). The Bison struggled to find a good rhthym over the first half of the race, but started to move back on the field. The 2V would finish in 3rd place, less than 3 seconds behind the Hawks. The 2V was made up of Doug Burney ’16, Nate Coffin ’16, Sam Jubb ’17, John Gleason ’18, Jack Shelton ’18, Rich Nicolaides ’18, Dillon LaFata ’18, Sam Wiley ’17, and was coxed by Henry Leonardi ’18.
The varsity eight was the last event of the day. Looking to set a good time through the morning, the Bison easily won their heat by 10 seconds, putting them right next to Drexel for the afternoon’s final. Drexel quickly established a lead on the field, but Bucknell and George Mason pulled away from the rest of the field in a battle for 2nd place. With 750 meters to go the Bison held a small lead over George Mason, but the head wind favored the larger crew from George Mason. The finish at the line was close, but Bucknell was edged out into 3rd place by 1 second. The 1V was made up of Ryan Thompson ’16, Billy Tyler ’15, Crawford Morris ’15, Alex Moore ’15, Tyler Bogaczyk ’15, Andrew Vinnik ’17, Billy Pinamont ’17, Lucas Colagrassi ’17, and was coxed by Suzie Zubkoff ’18.
The Bucknell Men will race again next Saturday, April 25th against Holy Cross, Hobart, and Williams on Lake Quinsigamond, in Worcester, MA.