Saratoga Springs, NY. (10/27/08)- The Colgate men’s rowing team competed at the annual Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs, NY this weekend. The regatta featured staggered starts of ten seconds, with crews racing just over 4000m (2.5 miles). Colgate entered boats into five races. Of those races, Colgate placed in the top five or better in four of them.

 

In the first race of the day for the Raiders, the Men’s Collegiate Novice 4+ event which only first year rowers are allowed to enter, coxswain Megan Richards (Andover, Mass.) and freshmen rowers Gavin Henriquez (Northport, N.Y.), Max Markusen, Kenley Unruh (Ellensberg, Wash.), and Rob Bickhart (Villanova, N.Y.) edged out St. Lawrence University by one second to take second place behind Williams College.

 

In the Men’s Collegiate 4+, in which twenty-eight boats competed, Colgate placed fourth with a time of 12:02, only three seconds away from bronze medalist the University of Vermont. Williams College won the event with a time of 11:53:65. The boat was coxed by sophomore Kristen Stonehill (Litchfield, Conn.), and the line up consisted of Marc Cassone (Plattsburgh, N.Y.), Matt Woodrow (Glenview, Ill.), Willie Fox (New Canaan, Conn.), and Adam Kobayashi (Brewster, N.Y.).

There was uncertainty as to how the Raider’s varsity 8+ fared in its race. The boat, with Fox, Christopher Monterosso (Staten Island, N.Y.) coxing and Kurt Miller (Devon, Pa.), Edward Gastel (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), Sam Walker (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Parker Paulin (Forsyth, Ill.), Oliver Jensen (Geneva, Switzerland), Paul Vogelsang (Buffalo, N.Y.), and Peter Leahey (Mercer Island, Wash.) rowing, was the first of 18 boats to start in the race. With barely three hundred meters left, the boat was overtaken by Wesleyan College. After the race concluded various protests prevented the members of the boat from knowing how they placed in the official standings. After the protests had been settled, Colgate’s varsity boat emerged a clear third, with a time of 10:44:59, beating out Rochester Institute of Technology for a bronze medal. Wesleyan College’s boat that passed Colgate’s in the final moments won the race with a time of 10:29:10.

 

The rowers of the Men’s Collegiate JV 8+ were the last Colgate rowers to medal. In the boat were cox Stonehill, Casssone, Kobayashi, Unruh, Woodrow, Henriquez, Markusen, Bickhart and Ben Jones (Bryn Mawr, Pa.). They were awarded silver, finishing behind Hobart College, whose time of 11:00:21 was twenty-six seconds better than Colgate’s. 

 

An unfortunate incident occurred to the Raiders during the Men’s Collegiate Novice 8+ event which prevented them from being a threat during the event. In the first thousand meters of the race, five seat Matt Harnisch’s foot stretcher broke, which prevented him from using his legs to generate any amount of power during the race. The Raiders were forced to row with seven rowers for the remaining 3000 meters of the race. In the boat were coxswain May Bayer (Boston, Mass.), T.J. Ake (Chatham, N.J.), Jordan Sage (Las Vegas, N.Y.), Sebastian Kooyman (Bedford, N.Y.), Matt Harnisch (Bell Harbor, N.Y.), J.P. Martinez (Newark, N.Y), John Raffensperger (Altamont, N.Y.), Micah Belzberg (Calgary, Alberta), and David Long (Conesus, N.Y.). They completed the race with a time of 13:08:95. The top spot went to Cornell University with a time of 11:04:57.