Camden, N.J. (4/12/09)- After training indoors for three months and coming off a spring break training trip in San Diego, Colgate's men's rowing team competed in its first race of the spring season this past weekend. The Knecht Cup, an annual regatta held on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J. provided competition for over fifty schools. Colgate limited its entries to pairs and coxed fours.
Early Friday morning, three Colgate pairs competed in the men's varsity pair event. In the first heat of the event, Colgate's “A” boat, rowed by Kurt Miller (Devon, Pa.) and Sam Walker (Pittsburgh, Pa.), came in an easy first in 7:39.4, edging out Lafayette by four seconds and beating last place Philadelphia by over forty seconds. In the next heat Colgate's “C” pair came second. James Clinton (Vancouver, Canada) and Peter Leahey (Mercer Island, Wash.) crossed the finish line eight seconds after first place Rochester, and posted a 7:53.6. In the third heat, boat “B”, Willie Fox (New Canaan, Conn.) and Matt Woodrow (Glenview, Ill.) came in third with a time of 7:42.6. Only the top two boats from each heat along with the next four fastest times would move onto Saturday's final. Willie Fox and Matt Woodrow, despite finishing third in their heat, posted the fastest time for a non-first or second place boat, and thus moved onto the final.
At the men's varsity pair final on Saturday, Colgate “B” took third with a time of 8:12.4. The “A” boat came in four seconds later, followed by “C” sixteen seconds later. Rochester finished first in 7:55.
Colgate entered two boats in the coxed varsity fours event. In the second heat of the day, Colgate “A,” stroked by Marc Cassone (Plattsburgh, N.Y.), Mark Robson (Baltimore, Md.), Eddie Gastel (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), Oliver Jensen (Geneva, Switzerland), and coxed by Kristen Stonehill (Litchfield, Conn.) came in second, losing out on Mercyhurst, which posted a 6:57.8 time, by four seconds. Colgate's “B” boat, coxed by Christopher Monterosso (Staten Island, N.Y.) with rowers Kurt Miller, Sam Walker, James Clinton, and Peter Leahey also came in second, but with a time of 7:05.2.
In the varsity four grand final, Colgate “B” came in fourth with a 7:25.7 time. “A” was not so fortunate, due to rough conditions and a mishap at the start line, the Colgate “A” boat capsized and was unable to take part in the race.
Colgate's men's novice team competed in the frosh/novice four event. The boat, coxed by May Bayer (Boston, Mass.) with rowers Gavin Henriquez (Northport, Ny), Rob Bickhart (Villanova, Pa.), Kenley Unruh (Ellensberg, Wash.), and Ben Jones (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) came in a respectable first place in its heat posting a 7:11.7 time. In the next day's grand final, the freshman re-enacted their feat, winning Colgate's only gold with a time of 7:45.3.
