HAMILTON – Colgate Men's Rowing closed out its fall schedule with the best possible scenario, winning four out of four races at the Bill Braxton Regatta.
 
The strong Raider showing capped a successful closing weekend to the fall racing schedule. Colgate also competed in Frostbite Regatta on the same course, although weather played a role and limited the number of events that took place that day.
 
Here's a rundown of both events:
 
Bill Braxton Regatta Recap
Rowing conditions were ideal and Colgate crews took advantage.
 
The Raiders captured gold medals in two Varsity 4+ flights, Varsity 8+ and Frosh/Novice 8+.
 
In the Varsity 4+, Colgate split its eights boat into two lineups and entered them in flights A and B. It was a chance for the Colgate crews to race against other teams, and it worked to perfection.
 
Colgate solidly beat all other crews in both flights with open water. What the Raiders lack in depth they make up for in hard work.
 
The Colgate Varsity 8+ then handled its business and beat the other crews with open water. The closest competition was from Marietta – Bill Braxton, the regatta's namesake, rowed at Marietta – which has increased in speed over the last few years. Marietta gave Colgate a great race but the Raiders prevailed by 6 seconds.
 
The final race of the day was the Frosh/Novice 8+. Consisting mostly of walk-ons and a few lightweight recruits, this unit also put together a very solid race. Crew members in this boat are just learning how to row, and they were competing in spring-style racing for the first time, which meant learning starting sequences but also rowing above 30 strokes per minute at anaerobic pressure.
 
Crews usually have all winter to transition gently into that kind of racing, but in this case they did very well and rowed an impressive race and completed Colgate's gold medal sweep.
 
Colgate's crew and results were as follows:
 
Varsity 4+ (Flight 1)
Cox: Tali Filstein.
Crew: 4 Matt Oakley, 3 Alex Damjanovic, 2 David McCarthy, 1 Peter Rex.
Finish: Colgate finished first out of five entries with a time of 6:44.14. Stony Brook was second in 7:03.75.
 
Varsity 4+ (Flight 2)
Cox: Matt Silver.
Crew: 4 Luke Smith, 3 Ben Moffa, 2 Sam Gatsos, 1 Jack Foley.
Finish: Colgate finished first out of five entries with a time of 6:59.88. Stockton was second in 7:58.95.
 
Varsity 8+
Cox: Tali Filstein.
Crew: S Matt Oakley, 7 Alex Damjanovic, 6 Luke Smith, 5 Ben Moffa, 4 Sam Gatsos, 3 Chris Hovard, 2 David McCarthy, B Peter Rex.
Finish: Colgate finished in first place out of four boats with a time of 6:02.06. Marietta was second in 6:08.14.
 
Novice 8+
Cox: Jack Haligan.
Crew: S Gian Civitello, 7 Seth Rosen, 6 Sam Adgie, 5 Alex Johnson, 4 Walter Woo, 3 Chase Zammit, 2 Matt Huntington, B Connor Appleyard.
Finish: Colgate finished in first place out of six boats with a time of 6:48.84. Ithaca was second in 7:18.57.
 
Frostbite Regatta Recap
The Novice 8+ crew raced against a smaller field because of poor weather conditions that caused many teams to scratch. It wound up being Colgate against boats from Penn and Temple, with Penn prevailing.
 
Colgate fought through a rough start and had overlap with Temple for most of the race, something many crews only dream of accomplishing. Temple is fast and has a reputation for producing some of the top crews nationally.
 
The Raiders finished 5 seconds behind Temple but is looking forward to rematches down the road and better days ahead.
 
The Varsity 8+ then raced and got off to a good start. Colgate was in the lead for much of the race and pulled ahead of Temple. Penn was the boat to beat and Colgate came close, finishing 0.4 percent off the winning Quaker time. The Raiders did beat Temple after the Owls got the best of Colgate at last year's Dad Vails.
 
Despite not medaling, it was a satisfying day of racing.
 
Colgate's crew and results were as follows:
 
Novice 8+
Cox: Jack Haligan.
Crew: S Gian Civitello, 7 Seth Rosen, 6 Sam Adgie, 5 Alex Johnson, 4 Walter Woo, 3 Chase Zammit, 2 Matt Huntington, B Connor Appleyard.
Finish: Colgate finished in third place out of three boats. Penn was the winner, followed by Temple.
 
Varsity 8+
Cox: Tali Filstein.
Crew: S Matt Oakley, 7 Alex Damjanovic, 6 Luke Smith, 5 Ben Moffa, 4 Sam Gatsos, 3 Chris Hovard, 2 David McCarthy, B Peter Rex.
Finish: Colgate finished in second place out of three boats. Penn was the winner, while Temple finished third.
 
From the Sources
Sophomore Ben Moffa: (On the weekend) "The fact that we were able to win both races Sunday is an example of the great training we've had from our coach and how disciplined we are as athletes. If you're unprepared, it's extremely hard to keep a high amount of intensity and focus throughout the day in order to win each race. Considering that our stiffer competition was in our second race later in the day shows that we were able to stay focused, keep our energy high, and come up with a win."
 
(On prospects for the spring) "I was extremely impressed this fall at how the freshman, especially the novices, gelled together so well and ended their first fall season on a good note by winning their event at the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta. With some of them having never rowed before college, their shared natural competitiveness and desire to improve is what drew them into such a tight knit group.
 
"We're all really excited to see how they're going to shape up after winter training. In regards to the varsity, with seven out of eight of us returning from last year, we were focused on pushing each in order to continue the success that we had at the end of last spring into the fall. Every person on varsity is stronger, faster, and a better rower than they were this time last year. That puts us in a great spot for the spring."
 
Senior Matt Oakley: (On the weekend) "The team was pleased with the weekend's results. We wanted to show consistent performances throughout the two regattas, and we did exactly that. We would have liked to beat the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday, but we put up a good time and only finished 1.5 seconds behind them. We also raced Temple on Saturday, last year's Dad Vail champions, and beat them by a respectable margin. We carried over our maturity and work ethic into the races on Sunday and won every event the team was entered in."
 
(On prospects for the spring) "The team has been gaining lots of momentum throughout the fall season and will carry it over into the spring. So far, we are ahead of where we were last spring and want to keep building on it. The novice team has shown lots of potential and is starting to figure out what it takes to be a varsity oarsman. Our coaches have done an excellent job of maximizing our potential leading into to winter training, where most of the speed is gained for the spring season. We need to carry over the positivity and work ethic we've established this fall into the winter and spring so we can continue to compete against top programs around the country."