Bucknell Men’s Crew found themselves pulling onto Kelly Drive for the first time this season to compete in the 52nd Annual Kerr Cup Regatta, hosted by the Drexel University Rowing Program in honor of program founder and former Coach, Dr. Thomas Kerr, Jr. In 1987, two years after Bucknell University Men’s Crew started, the program won their first race ever in 4+ event at this race. The regatta has grown to be a very competitive event, with this year posing no different for Bucknell. The team arrived in Philadelphia, PA to fair conditions that gave way to a stronger headwind that lasted throughout all events with temperatures in the mid-80s and clear skies. Also, rumor has it that the best fajitas in Philly that day could be found under a large orange tent on the banks of the Schuylkill.
The 1V started the day off early for the Bison in Heat #2 with Rutgers, Drexel, Army, Marietta, and La Salle, with a total of 22 teams fielding a boat in 4 heats total. After a rough start and falling behind the leaders of the pack, the 1V regained traction and closed ground on Marietta, Army, and Drexel but were only able to come within 1.2 seconds of Marietta at the finish line. The heat would see Drexel lead with a time of 6:27, Army at 6:29, Marietta at 6:31, Bucknell at 6:32, Rutgers at 6:43 and La Salle ending the race at 7:01. Crossing the finish line as the 4th crew would send them to the C-level final for the Men’s Varsity event. The final race for the 1V would have the Bison facing Rutgers, San Diego, Trinity, and Lehigh. Bucknell, again struggled to get off the line with the leaders, and would come to find themselves taking third with a time of 6:37, under Lehigh’s 6:31 and San Diego’s 6:35. Closing the field behind the Bison would be Trinity at 6:43 and Rutgers at 6:46.
The second race of the day for the Bison was the Men’s Novice 4 in the 1st heat for this event. With head winds increasing slightly, Bucknell faced off against Fordham, Iona and Army. The boat started with a slower start than the other crews, however found their rhythm quickly and made their move to take second place in their heat, moving them on to the Grand Finals for the Men’s Novice 4 event. The heat would see Fordham cross the finish line first with a time of 8:16, Bucknell at 8:42, Ion at 9:17 and Army at 9:21. The Novices would see some fast competition in the final with 5 other crews to race. As the flag dropped, the Bison’s Novice 4+ executed one of the best starts the boat has seen that shot them into a well-rowed race. With superior competition, the cleared the finish line with a time of 8:18 to put them in 6th place under Delaware (7:30), Drexel (7:32), Marist (7:39) Fordham (7:50) and Temple (7:59).
The third race in the morning would be the Men’s Freshman 8 event, with Bucknell seated next to the #2 nationally ranked Virginia Novice boat. At the start line, the Bison took several seats on their competition and rode it out through the first 250m. As they shifted into the body of their piece, they rowed with immense power but were highly out-stroked by their competition and fell behind the leaders at a gradual pace. The heat would have Drexel at a time of 6:39, Virginia A at 6:43, and Bucknell taking the last slot for the Grand Final at 7:00, followed by Fordham at 7:29 and Manhattan at 8:39 to close the race. Moving into the grand finals, the Bison were seeded 6th in the event. With a similar start, the Bison were able to find a rhythm with a slightly higher rate than the previous race. Impressively, the Bison battled it out against the much higher stroked La Salle and edged them out for 4th place. Temple would win the event with a time of 6:40, followed by Drexel at 6:42 and Virginia A in 3rd with a time of 6:56. Bucknell’s time of 7:02 would place them in 4th with La Salle trailing a second behind at a 7:03. Virginia’s B boat would close the race with a time of 7:28.
The Bison’s 3V would face some of the strongest head winds of the day. Their heat consisted of two other crews who bested them out for the two qualifying positions for Grand Finals. After crossing under the bridge and having a rough middle section of their race, Bucknell finished with a time of 7:12 to Temple’s 6:41 and Drexel’s 6:39.
The 2V event was another packed event with Bucknell finding themselves in the second of three heats. The crew got off to a decent start rowing along side Army for much of the first half of the race, at which point the Army crew started to establish a more secure 4th place over the Bison. While the 2V showed a drastic improvement from the week before against a strong Army crew, and was able to post a time faster than teams in other heats, only the top 4 from each heat progressed to a final. Bucknell (6:51) finished their heat behind Drexel (6:27), Delaware (6:30), Boston College (6:38) and Army (6:46)
The Bison returned home from Philly to rest and hit the water again the following morning to host Lehigh on the Susquehanna River. Lehigh’s Men boated a 1V8, 2V8 and a 4+ to race against the Bison for several 3.5 minute pieces. Up next on the schedule, the Bison will host Rutgers for a home course scrimmage on Saturday.
Varsity 8 – 2018 Resolute
Cox: Cami Berlin ’19
Stroke: Bobby Subak ‘21
7: Alex Seel ’20
6: Mike Pallotta ‘18
5: Dillon LaFata ’18
4: John Leasure ’19
3: Tom Lanphier ’20
2: Drew Stonnington ‘19
Bow: Ryan McSherry ’19
2nd Varsity 8 – Class of 1985
Cox: Perry Hamilton ‘18
Stroke: Matt Brown ‘20
7: Matt LaRouche ’20
6: Patrick Long ‘18
5: Nick Bermeo ’21
4: Christian Daugherty ’18
3: Alex Herman ’20
2: Gunnar Vorwerk ’19
Bow: James Koenigsberg ’18
3rd Varsity 8 – Trustee Challenge ’15
Cox: Henry Leonardi ’18
Stroke: Phil Thompson ’20
7: Mike Birosak ‘18
6: Ryan Wang ‘20
5: Duncan Ragland ’19
4: Will Costa ’21
3: Beau Detchemendy ‘21
2: Chris Mangano ’21
Bow: Sam Jacob ’20
Novice 8 – Scott Uebele ’00
Cox: Brody Mistrot ’21
Stroke: Liam Gibbons ’21
7: Liam Oakely ’21
6: Liam Pearce ’21
5: George Willis ’21
4: Cooper Giesen ’21
3: Ryan Galli ’21
2: Taylor LaRosa ‘21
Bow: Rylan Forester ’21
Novice 4 – Empacher 4
Cox: Aibhlin Moye-Linehan ’18
Stroke: Ryan Lalevee ‘20
3: Kip Hallagan ’21
2: Sebastian Bickford ’21
Bow: Lourenco Martins ‘21