Bucknell University Men’s Crew once again closed out the year with the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) National Championships held on the Lake Lanier in Gainesville, GA, the site of the ’96 Olympics. This year, racing was held over three days, starting with Time Trials and Heats on Friday and ending with Finals on Saturday. The weather was calm and dry for all of racing, with temperatures in the 80/90s. Bucknell entered 5 boats this year int he M1V8, M2V8, M2-, M1x, and new to this event, M3V8. Full racing results can be found HERE as well as the Livestream Archive.
In the inaugural race for the Men’s 3rd Varsity 8+ event at the ACRA, Bucknell along with 4 other programs, would field crews who were all looking to take home medals for this event. With only 5 boats total, all crews would advance to the Grand Finals on Saturday, but a preliminary race was held on Saturday in order to race for lanes and determine the correct seeding heading into the Final. In the Prelim, Bucknell would post the fastest time of 6:27 over Notre Dame (6:31), UCSB (6:34), UMass (6:38, and Boston College (6:42), seeding the Bison as the top crew heading into the Grand Final. Here, the 3V event showed to be a race that should stick around and grow for years to come. With a tight race all down the course, Bucknell’s 3V would take home a National Championship Silver Medal, having been edged out by Notre Dame for the gold. With a time of 6:18 to Notre Dame’s 6:15, Bucknell crossed the finish line ahead of Boston College (6:19), UCSB (6:31), and UMass (6:43).
Also a medaling event for Bucknell University was Men’s 2V. Having placed 3rd in their heat on Saturday with a time of 6:09 behind Michigan’s 6:07, Bucknell’s 2V took home a National Championship Bronze Medal with a time of 6:19 behind Delaware (6:16) and Notre Dame (6:17), and ahead of Michigan (6:20), Boston College (6:20), UC Davis (6:26), UVA (6:29), and Orange Coast (6:31).
The Men’s 1st Varsity 8 had the most racing of the weekend, kicking it off with their heats racing where they would advance to the reps having taken 5th place with a time of 6:22 behind Michigan’s 6:13. In the reps, they had to secure 1st place in order to advance to the A/B semis and were able to do so with a time of 6:15.5, just ahead of UC Davis’s 6:15.8. In the A/B semis on Saturday, Bucknell finished with a time of 6:17 in 6th place behind Purdue’s 6:04, sending the 1V to the B Finals. Here, Bucknell would show themselves to be one of the top 10 Crews in the ACRA by taking home second in their final with a time of 6:22 behind UCSB (6:19) and ahead of UCLA (6:24), UMass (6:24), Vermont (6:26), Orange Coast (6:27), UNC (6:29), and UVA (6:32).
Kicking off the racing for the Bison on Lake Lanier Friday was the Men’s 1x event in a time trail, raced by Sebastien Bickford ’21. Having only sculled for a week and a half prior to racing, Bickford posted a time of 10:00 in the Time Trial, placing him 27 out 32, sending him to the M1x Reps. Here, Bickford would post a time of 10:46 behind the leader’s 9:01, sending him to the D Final on Saturday. In a 7 boat race, Bickford would take third in the Final with a time of 11:25 behind UC Santa Barbara (10:47), Kansas (11:12), and ahead of Arizona (11:43), Texas (11:57), UNH (13:12) and UVM (DNF).
The other small boat class for the Bison was the Men’s pair, who posted a time of 9:07 in their heat behind the leading crew from Arizona (7:37) which would send them along to the reps on Saturday where they would see a time of 8:45 behind the leading 7:53 from Michigan State. In the C Final for the Men’s Pair, Bucknell would finish in 4th place with a time of 9:29 behind Northwestern (8:52), Kansas (9:14), Texas (9:17), and ahead of UCSB (10:17).
Several members were also honored at the ACRA National Championship with Andrew Stonnington ’19, John Leasure ’19, and Ryan McSherry ’19 all being members of the Mid-Atlantic team. The ACRA also recognized Jackson Ingram ’21 as being a part of the All-Academic First -Team, needing an Cum GPA of 3.85 or higher and John Leasure ’19, Sam Jacob ’20, and Will Perry ’21 as Second-Team members for having a 3.5-3.84 Cum GPA.
Lineups
1st Varsity 8 – 2018 Resolute Mid-weight XT
Cox: Max Silverman ’22
8: Ryan McSherry ’19
7: Bobby Subak ’21
6: John Leasure ’19
5: Alex Seel ’20
4: Drew Stonnington ’19
3: Tom Lanphier ’20
2: Philip Onffroy ’22
Bow: Duncan Ragland ’19
2nd Varsity 8 – Class of 1985
Cox: Daniel Joseph ’22
8: Matt Brown ’20
7: Matt LaRouche ’20
6: Davis MacKelcan ’22
5: Gunnar Vorwerk ’19
4: Chris Mangano ’21
3: Alex Herman ’20
2: Matt Dain ’22
Bow: Jackson Ingram ’21
3rd Varsity 8 – Scott Uebele ’00
Cox: Brody Mistrot ’21
8: Nick Caravias ’22
7: Aaron Swope ’22
6: Liam Pearce ’21
5: Taylor LaRosa ’21
4: Ryan Wang ’19
3: Christian Sieck ’22
2: Phil Thompson ’20
Bow: Conrad Fite ’22
Men’s 2-
Ethan Laurens ’22
Sam Jacob ’20
Men’s 1x – 2007 Hudson
Sebastian Bickford ’21