This past weekend saw the conclusion of the 2015 Fall racing season for the Bucknell men. The past several weeks have proven to be a very busy time of year, featuring a trip to the Head of the Charles, the 2nd Annual Class Day Race, and the year-end finish at the Rutgers Fall Classic. All three events proved to be very exciting, showing off improved team depth, and has the men gearing up for a very successful spring.
The Bucknell Men sent two undergraduate crews, as well as an eight of Alumni to race at the 51st Annual Head of the Charles. Held in Boston, MA, the Head of the Charles is the world’s largest 2-day regatta, with over 400,000 people lining the banks of the Charles River to watch. The first Bucknell boat to compete was the Alumni Eight, composed of Conor Corwin ‘14, Andy McLaughlin ‘12, Alex Moore ’15, Matt Sisto ‘14, John Kauffman ‘11, Tyler Bogaczyk ’15, Ethan Zubkoff ’14, Jackson McCarron ’14, and was coxed by Robert Bellantoni ‘19. The Alumni would finish in 34th place with a time of 17:27.
The Club eight was the next event of the day. The young, but powerful, crew rowed to a strong finish against a very deep field. Finishing in 25th in a time of 16:19, the Bison finished less than 5 seconds off of last year’s ECAC 2V champion Hobart crew, and just over a second behind a strong Holy Cross. Racing in the Club Eight were John Morcos ’19, Sam Wiley ’16, Sam Jubb ’17, John Leasure ’19, Thomas Marth ’19, Rich Nicolaides ’18, Dillon LaFata ’18, Grant Accurso ’19, and was coxed by Perry Hamilton ’18.
The Collegiate eight was the last race of the weekend, racing late on Sunday afternoon, into an increasing headwind. The Collegiate eight would ultimately finish in 26th place in a time of 16:19, although they were accessed a 5 seconds penalty for clipping a course buoy. Racing in the Collegiate Eight were Doug Burney ’16, Ryan Thompson ’16, Billy Pinamont ’17, Drew Vinnik ’17, Mike Pallotta ’18, Jack Shelton ’18, Duncan Ragland ’19, Lucas Colagrossi ’17, and was coxed by Henry Leonardi ’18.
The weekend after the Head of the Charles, the Bucknell Men hosted the 2nd Annual Class Day Race. Joining the Bison were an 8 and 4 of alumni. Competing in a 1000m sprint the Senior/Junior combo, alumni, and freshmen eights all went off quickly, with the sophomores starting close behind. The Class of ’18 were the first to drop off the pace of the leaders, turning things into a 3 boat race. The Class of ’19 started to slide back about halfway through, and an all-out battle emerged between the alumni and the Class of ‘16/’17 eight. With 100 meters to go the Class of ’16/’17 had a small lead, but the alumni unleashed a brutal sprint, walking through to claim victory by just over a seat. The coaches and undergraduates would like to thank all of the alumni who came out for finding the time to make it back on to campus, and look forward to seeing more faces next year. The alumni 8 was comprised of Billy Tyler ’15, Connor Corwen ’14, Crawford Morris ’15, Alex Moore ’15, Matt Sisto ’14, Tyler Bogaczyk ’15, Jackson McCarron ’14, and Andrew Neils ’08. The alumni four was rowed by Ryan Lum ’13, Michael Sena ’12, Will Fierman ’15, and Ethan Zubkoff ’14.
Closing out the men’s fall season was the 2015 Rutgers Fall Classic, in New Brunswick, NJ. Conditions proved to be almost ideal early in the day, with seasonable temperatures and a light wind.
The Freshmen Men finished their fall campaign on a high note. The Bucknell “A” crew, composed of John Morcos, Duncan Ragland, Ryan McSherry, Mike Savage, Ben Brown, Quinn Smith, Jacopo Baldi, Grant Accurso, and coxed Robert Bellantoni finished in a time of 13:39, less than 12 seconds off “A’’ crews from the Navy Heavyweight and Lightweight Squads. The Bucknell “B” boat, composed of Alex Owen, Thomas Marth, David Ruf, Dabreon Darby, John Leasure, Andrew Carstensen, Kyle Shtern, Gunnar Vorwek, and coxed by Nicole Finan finished in a time of 14:03, just 15 seconds off of Navy’s “B” lightweight crew. Bucknell “C”, composed of Andrew Stonnington, Nick Paray, Gary Tse, Doug Bidjarano, Chris Malone, Chris Bowdler, Nick Huang, Ryan Wang, and coxed by Emilee Bae finished just under a minute behind Bucknell “B,” but was only 10 seconds off the top Army eight, and finished 5 seconds ahead of the top Rutgers eight. Overall the freshmen would combine to finish in 3rd place overall, tied for their highest finish ever, but posted their fastest ever combined time.
Due to illness and injury Bucknell was unable to put out a fourth varsity 4. Bucknell rowers Luke Goodwin ’18 and Nikhil Thomas ’19, joined forces with extra rowers from Army, Rutgers, and Navy to form a composite 8, which would finish in a time of 16:42.
The Varsity Men battled some strong competition to post a combined 3rd place finish behind fellow ACRA Rivals Army and Rutgers, while beating out the Navy Heavyweights and Lightweights. The “A” Four finished in a solid 4th position with a time of 14:13, Bucknell “B” finished just under 20 seconds later, and Bucknell “C” finishing in 15:22. Bucknell “A” was made up of Doug Burney ’16, Billy Pinamont ’17, Jack Shelton ’18, Lucas Colagrossi ’17, and was coxed by Henry Leonardi ’18. Bucknell “B” was raced by Ryan Thompson ’16, Dillon LaFata ’18, Mike Pallotta ’18, Sam Jubb ’17, and was coxed by Perry Hamilton ’18. Bucknell “C” was made up of Pat Long ’18, Sam Wiley ’16, Christian Daugherty ’18, Mike Birosak ’18, and was coxed by James Koenigsberg ’18.
The men will now enjoy a few more days on the water before fully transitioning indoors for the winter. The team will now work on continuing to build momentum as we focus on making improvements daily. We know our spring racing campaign will be challenging, but the next few months will help us get into a position we want to be in. With a very large freshmen group, a talented sophomore class, and strong junior and senior groups, this winter looks to be a very exciting time to see just how fast we can go. The Bucknell Men will return to the water in January for their winter training camp in Orlando, FL.