HAMILTON – Weather was the overall winner but Colgate's Novice 8+ did manage to race at the recently contested Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs.
 
The Raiders placed fifth out of 25 boats, crossing in 11:03.19. That time was just one second behind fourth-place Rutgers and only 33 seconds off the first-place crew from Trinity.
 
Shortly after that race, the remainder of the regatta was canceled due to approaching winds and dropping temps. The backlog at the finish to dock meant that racers had long wait times to dock and were getting very cold.
 
Temperatures were in the upper 30s and low 40s all day, with rain that was relentless and drenching.
 
The Colgate crew was made up of exactly half recruits and half walkons. Several had raced at Head of the Fish before, and coxswain Jack Haligan was familiar with the course and made good lines on the S-turn.
 
Colgate's next racing weekend is Nov. 10 at the Frostbite Regatta and Nov. 11 at the Bill Braxton Regatta. The crews switch over to sprint-style racing, so instead of 3.2K and head-race style it will be with starts and only 2K and bow ball to bow ball.
 
From the Sources
Assistant coach Anthony Chacon: (On the Novice race) "The novice launched on time and had the best row of their career so far, superior to any practice they have had till that point. They felt good about the race and prepared for it. They said nobody passed them and the only boat to advance on them, UConn, they later held off and maintained their lead till the finish sprint, beating them too.
 
"They raced so hard they even advanced on the previous event, Masters Women's 8s, and passed at least three of those boats to add to their experience of what a head race involves."
 
(On canceling the later races) "It was a good call for inexperienced crews, but the varsity felt they could have raced in those conditions, especially considering that the Head of the Charles had rougher waves and winds the previous race. They would have preferred the opportunity to race at least the V8. But 'safety first' for those smaller and less experienced crews."
 
First-year Connor Appleyard: (On preparations) "With this being the first race for all of the walkons in our boat, we were all very focused on both giving them a good experience and also trying to win. We have been focusing on our technique on the water over the past few weeks while also gaining fitness by rowing on the ergometers during our free time.
 
(On the race) "When it came to the race, we knew we were prepared technically and were confident about our conditioning. When we got into the race it was easy to revert to what we had done in practice and make sure that we kept our heads in the boat and not focused on the subpar conditions.
 
(Looking ahead) "This is a group that will work hard together over the next few months in preparation for the spring season. We have been keeping track of how many meters we have been doing outside of practice on the ergs and it motivates us all to try to keep up with the top freshman as well as the upperclassmen. The winter is going to be very different for the first time rowers, but what pushes you through is having the team going through all of the workouts together.
 
"If we keep working hard in and out of practice throughout the winter, I am very confident we will have a successful season in the spring."
 
First-year Gian Civitello: (On the race) "It's true that the conditions at the Head of the Fish were not ideal, but the cold and rain can be zoned out pretty easily in the heat of a race. I would say that, especially for novices, the whole crew did a good job of staying focused on the race and not letting the weather bother them too much.
 
"That said, any novice boat is going to experience a certain amount of difficulty maintaining timing and rhythm throughout a race. Whenever I noticed any problems with this, I quickly let Jack know and he did a great job of making calls to get the boat running smoothly again. Jack was also great at making continuous calls to keep all of us focused on rowing aggressively throughout the race."
 
(Looking ahead) "As far as the spring season goes, this crew definitely has a lot of potential. There is a huge amount of energy among all the novice rowers and everyone is working hard to get faster. The crew has made a great deal of progress in a very short time, and I look forward to seeing what we are capable of after a few more months of training."
 
Colgate's crew and results were as follows:
 
Novice 8+
Cox: Jack Haligan.
Crew: S Gian Civitello, 7 Chris Hovard, 6 Seth Rosen, 5 Chase Zammit, 4 David McKay, 3 Alex Johnson, 2 Sam Adgie, B Connor Appleyard.
Finish: Colgate finished in fifth place out of 25 entries with a time of 11:03.19. Trinity won the event, followed by Tufts, Marist and Rutgers. The Colgate boat finished one second behind Rutgers for fourth place and only 33 seconds behind the winning crew from Trinity.