Head of the Charles Results

HAMILTON – Colgate Men's Rowing continued its fall schedule Sunday at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta.
 
The Raiders participated in one of the premier races, the Men's Championship Eights (Champ 8). It was cold, there was waves on the Charles River and the Colgate crew handled the conditions very well. Their competition included crews from several national teams and other composite entries composed of national team athletes.
 
Colgate's Sunday time of 16:44.744 was nearly 2 minutes faster than at the recent Bridge to Bridge Regatta on the Erie Canal. This despite the windy conditions that caused a lot of wave action early in the race. As the race progressed, and the boat direction changed, the wind varied from a head to a cross to a tail wind.
 
The team faced adversity in the form of the coxswain's voice amp dying in the middle of the race – a most inopportune moment. The crew had to stop as they went under a bridge because the wind and the turn were difficult even with the coxswain full on the rudder, and the crew members could not hear the cox's call for more power on starboard.
 
The problem soon was corrected and Colgate rowed on, shaking off the interruption.
 
Colgate's crew was a mixture of all four classes, and the boat was the JB Conti – a winged rigger Empacher-brand racing shell. It is Colgate's best shell in the fleet, reserved only for the most important races.
 
"The men felt good about how hard we were pulling together," Raiders assistant coach Anthony Chacon said. "Several guys felt they were holding off the German team for a good chunk of the race. We know we can be even faster and row even better."
 
There were 805 teams represented at the Head of the Charles Regatta, featuring 2,308 entries and 10,282 athletes. There were 66 races, with Colgate's race sporting 32 entries. Among those were collegiate boats from California, Georgetown, Yale, Harvard, Northeastern, Washington and Boston University.
 
From the Sources
Matt Oakley, senior:  "The No. 1 lesson to take away from this weekend is what we did last year isn't going to get us to where we want to be this year. If we want to be competitive at the national and international level, we need to work harder and work smarter than any other program.
 
"Racing the Championship 8+ category was a good introduction to the level of rowing we want our team to reach. Racing against some of the top oarsmen in the world was extremely motivating and will push us to work harder for the remaining races in the fall and into the spring season. This past weekend helped spark a flame that will burn inside all of us until the end of the spring season."
 
Peter Rex, senior: "Racing in the Champ 8 was a great experience because it shows us the level of speed that we hope to reach this year. As we move forward, we can approach training with the goal of competing and succeeding at this high level."
 
Alumni Entry Combined Several Eras of Success
In addition to the Varsity 8+ boat, there also was a Colgate Alumni 8+ entry in the Alumni Race.


 
The former Raiders placed 41st out of 48 entries with a time of 17:41.195. Their lineup (cox to bow) consisted of Georgia Butcher, Peter Engebretson, Andrew Hatzenbuhler, Clarke Cady-McCrea, Michael McCarthy, Douglas Herling, Benjamin Krasney, Brendan Matthews and Shane Buchanan.
 
"These guys have won Dad Vails, IRA and Henley over the years," Chacon said. "They had a good race and felt strong. It was mostly for the fun and a great reunion.
 
"They joined the current students for a dinner in Boston and socialized with us without a single drop of alcohol as they abstained in consideration that we were at a school function. A great time was had by all and it was nice to combine several eras of successful Colgate athletes into one boat."
 
Colgate's crew and results were as follows:
 
Varsity 8+
Cox: Tali Filstein.
Crew: S Luke Smith, 7 Alex Damjanovic, 6 David McCarthy, 5 Ben Moffa, 4 Sam Gatsos, 3 Matt Oakley, 2 Gian Civittello, B Peter Rex.
Finish: Colgate finished in 31st place with a time of 16:44.744.