Men’s Crew Opens Spring Season at Cayuga Inlet Duals

The Bucknell Men’s Crew started off their official sprint season with the Cayuga Inlet Duals this past Saturday against the Cornell Lightweights, Ithaca College, Hobart College, Mercyhurst University and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The Bison arrived to the course with near perfect conditions and a slight tailwind increasing throughout the day. The duals were set up with each boat facing one other boat in the morning to then being assigned a new opponent for the afternoon races based off race results.

As per tradition for this event, the Men’s Varsity 8 was the first event to start the day off for the Bison up against the Cornell Lwts 1V. Bucknell was able to keep closed water on Cornell through the first 1000, taking a few seats during a shift. Cornell responded in the last 1000m to maintain a lead with open water and crossed the finish line with a time of 5:48.9, with the Bison finishing with a time of 6:02.2, sending them to square up against Mercyhurst for their afternoon race. The Bison took a lead on Mercyhurst, to which Mercyhurst responded on the slight curve to pull out a leading time of 5:53.4 over our 6:03.3.

In the 2^nd Varsity 8 event, Bucknell saw the Cornell Lwts 2V for another Bison vs. Bears showdown. Similar to the varsity 8 race, Bucknell got off to a strong start against a very talented Cornell crew. Cornell finished the race in a time of 5:49.8 and the Bucknell 2v finished their first race of the day with a time of 6:08.2, sending them to see Mercyhurst in the afternoon as well. Bucknell never found the same rhythm that they had in their morning race, and struggled to keep pace with a fast starting Mercyhurst crew. Mercyhurst closed out the race with a time of 6:03.3 to the Bison’s 6:13.3.

Following suit, the Bucknell 3^rd Varsity 8 backed into the stake boats alongside the Cornell Lwts. The start was quick, with the Bison holding for several strokes until the Cornell 4V started a steady lead and ended with a time of 6:04.3, leading the Bison with a time of 6:32.4. The Bison 3V was then paired up against the Ithaca Bomber’s Novice 8 for their second race of the day. The Bison got off the line with an explosive push, ultimately sitting ahead of the Ithaca novice boat by the middle mark to take home a time of 6:24.2 over Ithaca’s 6:44.5.

The Novice 8 race was the only race of the day to run 3 boats wide. With water levels being low, the course was tight on the outer lanes; however, the Bison coxswains were able to secure the middle lane for the Novice’s race. With RIT and Ithaca flanking either side of the Bucknell Novices, the Bison and RIT Tigers were able to take a lead over the Ithaca Bombers into the first 500. At the 1000m mark Bucknell had a seat over the higher stroked RIT but found their own shifts to solidify a win over RIT and Ithaca. The finish line clocked Bucknell at 6:14.7, RIT at 6:19.4 and Ithaca at 6:41.9. The win put the Bison Novice 8 up against the Hobart 3v for the afternoon racing. The Bison were able to stay even with the Statesmen for the first 500, but had a steady fall to the faster Hobart varsity boat, taking a final time of 6:20.1 to Hobart’s 6:09.4.

The Bison will be back on the water this coming week preparing for another weekend of strong racing against Army, Penn State and University of Vermont. The racing will be hosted by Army in West Point, NY on the Hudson River.

Cayuga Inlet Dual Lineups

Varsity 8 – 2018 Resolute
AM Cox: Henry Leonardi ’18
PM Cox: Cami Berlin ’19
Stroke: Mike Pallotta ’18
7: Alex Seel ’20
6: John Leasure ’19
5: Dillon LaFata ’18
4: Drew Stonnington ’19
3: Tom Lanphier ’20
2: Gunnar Vorwerk ’19
Bow: Ryan McSherry ’19