Bucknell Men’s crew returned to Philadelphia, PA once again this season to compete at the 2018 Jeffereson Dad Vail Regatta, the largest Collegiate Rowing event in the world. The team fielded a Varsity Eight, 2nd Varsity eight, 3rd Varsity eight, Novice Eight, and a Men’s Double. Given the amounts of entries, three of the events that Bucknell was in ran time trials on Friday morning in order to determine which 18 crews would advance to Semi Finals later in the day. Conditions were some of the best ever seen at the Dad Vail, with sunny skies and a varying tailwind throughout the day.
The 1st Varsity boat finished their time trial in 15th with a time of 5:37, sending them to the 3rd Semi-Final. After a hard push to find their rhythm, they would finish with a time of 6:01 to the leading time of 5:44 to place them in the 3rd level Final. This race would prove to be one of the tightest races for the Varisty boat, with all boats finishing within 12 seconds of each other. Bucknell would ultimately come in 4th place with a time of 6:54, two seconds behind the winning crew, Grad Valley who had a time of 6:52.3. Second place would go to Minnesota at a 6:52.6, third place going to Marietta with a time of 5:53 and the field closing with Purdue in fifth, posting a 5:55 and Coast guard in sixth with a 6:04.
The Men’s 2V also had to run a time trial, with 20 other boats enter and placed 9th overall with a time of 5:45 to send them to the 3rd Semi-final. They finished this race in a time of 6:21 to the leading crew’s (University of Delaware) 5:55, placing them in 4th place and sending them to the 3rd level final. The Bison had a tough time finding their rhythm in this race and fell to 6th place at the end of the final. Jacksonville (5:57.2) took first, followed by Army (5:57.6), Michigan (6:00), North Carolina (6:03), and Purdue (6:06) over Bucknell (6:17).
In the Men’s 3V, a total of eight entries would advance all crews straight to Heats. Bucknell took 4th in their heat with a time of 6:35, sending them to the second final for the event with Michigan State. Bucknell broke away from Michigan State in the 2 boat final early on and aimed to push for more ground throughout the race, having one of their best rows of the season. Bucknell’s 3V would win the race in 6:27 over Michigan State’s 6:56.
The Men’s Novice 8 event was the third boat for the Bison to enter into time trails, again with only 18 of the 25 entries advancing to the semi-finals. The Novices came in 9th overall for the time trail, only 2 seconds behind University of Virginia, sending them to the third semi-final. In this semi-final, Bucknell lead the back through the 1000m mark by a few seat, with Michigan and Virginia just off the stern deck. Michigan and Virginia both took moves into the sprint but Bucknell was not able to respond soon enough and would take third with a time of 6:25 to Michigan’s 6:17 and Virginia’s 6:20. This finish would send them to the second level final, where they would have a similar experience. They lead the pack for the first 500 and fall steadily to 5thplace. La Salle taking first place (6:10) followed by Alabama (6:16.3) Ohio State (6:16.9) and Purdue (6:22). Massachusetts would close of the race with a 6:24 behind Bucknell.
Bucknell made a last minute decision and entered a Men’s double at the Dad Vail regatta as well. The double, having limited experience sculling, had a very strong given the stronger crews the raced against. After the Semi-Finals, the Bison 2x raced in the third level final against Washington college (7:45), USMMA (8:07) and Clarskon (8:11) with Bucknell finishing the race in a time of 8:54.
Bucknell also had and Alumni Eight enter the Dad Vail regatta for a 500m sprint against Fordham, St. Joseph’s and LaSalle. With alumni ranging from members of the original class year to last year’s graduates, the Bison had an impressive start and would trail just behind Fordham to take home a Dad Vail Silver Medal with a time of 1:28 to Fordham 1:20.
The Bison are currently in the middle of training for the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship regatta, which will be held on May 26 and 27th in Gainesville, GA. With several rowers having started internships, the team will be racing a Varsity 8, Novice 8, Varsity 4, Lightweight Varsity 4, and a Novice 4. The team will also hold an End of the Year banquet in Georgia, with class year honors and awards.
Varsity 8 – 2018 Resolute
Cox: Perry Hamilton ‘18
Stroke: Bobby Subak ‘21
7: Dillon LaFata ’18
6: Mike Pallotta ‘18
5: Tom Lanphier ’20
4: John Leasure ’19
3: Gunnar Vorwerk ’19
2: Drew Stonnington ‘19
Bow: Ryan McSherry ’19
2nd Varsity 8 – Class of 1985
Cox: Henry Leonardi ’18
Stroke: Matt Brown ‘20
7: Matt LaRouche ’20
6: Patrick Long ‘18
5: Alex Seel ’20
4: Phil Thompson ’20
3: Nick Bermeo ’21
2: Christian Daugherty ’18
Bow: James Koenigsberg ’18
3rd Varsity 8 – Trustee Challenge ’15
Cox: Aibhlin Moye-Linehan ’18
Stroke: Taylor LaRosa ’21
7: Michael Birosak ’18
6: Alex Herman ’20
5: Sam Jacob ’20
4: Ryan Wang ’20
3: Ryan Lalevee ’20
2: Chris Mangano ’21
Bow: Kip Hallagan ’21
Novice 8 – Scott Uebele ’00
Cox: Brody Mistrot ’21
Stroke: Cooper Giesen ’21
7: Liam Oakely ’21
6: Liam Gibbons ’21
5: George Willis ’21
4: Liam Pearce ’21
3: Rylan Forester ’21
2: Will Costa ’21
Bow: Ryan Galli ’21
Men’s 2x
Bow: Sebastian Bickford ’21
Stroke: Lourenco Martins ’21