This weekend, Bucknell hit the road for its first official away race of the spring, the George Washington Invitational. The team anticipated the opportunity to measure its speed against some of the best club teams from the midwest and west coast, cross-country matchups that don’t typically occur until the ACRA National Championship at the very end of the year. Each boat would race once on Friday and twice on Saturday.
Despite a strong tailwind and wavy water, Bucknell walked away from Friday racing with wins across the board. Recently ranked #8 in last week’s ACRA Poll, the varsity eight sought to defend its seed against a strong crew from Washington State. At last year’s national championship, Bucknell edged WSU by just three seats to win the petite final. This weekend, Bucknell jumped out to an early one length lead that it would hold through the end of the race without having to sprint. Knowing that it would face tougher matchups the following day, the crew only did what was needed to win.
The next few races weren’t quite as competitive as Bucknell easily handled its opponents. The second varsity eight defeated Delaware by nearly a length of open water, the third varsity eight beat both Delaware and UNC by over 25 seconds and the novice eight put Rutgers away by several lengths of open water.
Unfortunately the wind persisted into the next day, making the river unrowable. The team waited for conditions to improve until racing was officially cancelled at 4pm.
Next weekend, Bucknell will travel to Philadelphia for the Kerr Cup where it will race heats in the morning and finals in the afternoon.
Varsity 8+
#8 Bucknell – 5:43.6
#11 Washington St. – 5:47.6
2nd Varsity 8+
Bucknell – 5:50.2
Delaware – 5:55.3
3rd Varsity 8+
Bucknell – 5:49.8
Delaware – 6:15.5
North Carolina – 6:16.3
Novice 8+
#4 Bucknell – 5:57.0
Rutgers – 6:13.3
Bucknell 4v – 6:16.6
1st Varsity 8+ – 2024 Hudson U8.43 Ultra Super Predator
Coxswain: Izzy Mersky, Sr.
Stroke: Andrew Viola, Sr.
7: Chris Kirby, So.
6: Ryan Genel, So.
5: Zach Gerhardt, Sr.
4: Conor McNichols, Jr.
3: Sen Zelov, Jr.
2: Miles Clyde, Fr.
Bow: Jonas Sanchez, Fr.
2nd Varsity 8+ – 2022 Hudson S8.32 Super Predator
Coxswain: Tyler Leong, Fr.
Stroke: Luke Lambropoulos, Sr.
7: Luca Arvanitis, Jr.
6: Graham Knox, Sr.
5: Sebastian Brandt, Fr.
4: Soren Stein, Fr.
3: Jackson Green, Fr.
2: Dominic Canale, Sr.
Bow: John Kirincich, So.
3rd Varsity 8+ – 2022 Hudson S8.32 Super Predator
Coxswain: Regine Escher, Fr.
Stroke: Ryan Spallone, Jr.
7: Oliver Abushacra, So.
6: Aidan DeWitt, Jr.
5: Tim Robertson, So.
4: Robert Canestrari, Fr.
3: Jack Greenleaf, Fr.
2: Will Blumenthal, So.
Bow: Tennyson Kelly, Fr.
4th Varsity 8+ – Class of 1985
Coxswain: Jack Lieblein, So.
Stroke: Griffin Walsh, So.
7: Andy Thompson, Jr.
6: Chris Morale, So.
5: Ethan Jones, Sr.
4: Ryan Firestone, So.
3: Collin Campbell, Fr.
2: Connor Orkin, Fr.
Bow: Brendan Arnold, Sr.
Novice 8+ – Class of 2020
Coxswain: Luke Catalanello, Fr.
Stroke: Wes Peot, Fr.
7: Cornelius Nichilo, Fr.
6: Kristian Komorowski, Fr.
5: Joe Hofmann, Fr.
4: Tiarnan Nowak, Fr.
3: Jacob Mohr, Fr.
2: Tanner Tighelaar, Fr.
Bow: Tommy Smith, Fr.