Knecht Cup Results

CHERRY HILL, N.J. – Colgate continued its fine spring of racing with a victory and a second-place finish at the Knecht Cup.
 
The Raiders captured all three races in the Frosh/Novice Four, topped by a 4½-second triumph in the Grand Final. Colgate in the championship race knocked off boats from MIT, Bowdoin, New Hampshire, Gordon and Connecticut.
 
The victory over MIT was by a 4.65-second gap.
 
The Raiders nearly made it a sweep in the Varsity 8+, finishing less than one second behind Delaware in the Grand Final. Colgate easily rowed past boats from Michigan, Mercyhurst, Trinity and Virginia in claiming the runner-up medal.
 
From the Source
Matt Oakley '19 (Varsity 8+): "Overall, the Varsity 8 raced well this weekend. The heat on Saturday morning was great; we were relaxed yet hungry. We wanted to prove our speed and did exactly that. Our semifinal on Saturday afternoon was a little shaky, but we were able to recover for the final on Sunday early afternoon. With rowing, you can never be certain with how a race is going to unfold. All you can control is how you react during the race. In the semi, Delaware lights got out in front off the start and we failed to react, we became complacent. However, after getting the boat together after dinner for a meeting, we worked out the complacency and wanted revenge. For the final on Sunday, we knew Del Lights were going to try to get out in front off the start again. We stuck to our race plan, trusted in our endurance, and we found our rhythm early on and kept with them off the start. From then, it was a fight to see who could hold out the longest before breaking. Both us and Del lights were extremely focused and disciplined, maintaining about the same margin all throughout the race, trading stroke for stroke. Delaware Lights went on to beat us by .88 seconds. Being early in the season, lightweight crews have an advantage over heavier crews because they can row at a higher stroke rate. However, that means lightweight crew find their peak speed much sooner than heavier crews. What worked so well for us was our focus and endurance we built up from winter training. By focusing on ourselves and what our potential is at this early point in the season, we were able to be competitive with these crews that have been on the water for months now. What is exciting and motivating for us is the fact that we are placing in the Grand Final when at this point last year, we were winning the petite final. Every time we touch the water, we get faster. With our lake finally unfrozen, we are in a really good position to capitalize on our training and put up the fastest varsity 8 Colgate has ever had.
 
"What you did to get you where you are now is not going to get you where you want to go. After last spring's Dad Vail results and the fall racing results, the team knew we would have to work even harder if we want to win Dad Vails. Most of the guys on the team did exactly that. It all comes down to the team culture. We have been able to build and maintain a team culture that revolves around working extremely hard in the erg room, in the weight room, in the boat, and in the classroom. Throughout winter training, many of the guys on the team took it upon themselves to put extra work in on their own time, whether that be on the erg or flying down to Florida before the team to start the training trip early. With a team like ours, we don't have the size and funding that these other top 20 programs have, so we have to make up for it with our work ethic. I know this seems like a generic answer, but it is really that easy. If you put in the time and effort, you will find success. For instance, the team had today off because we had a two-day regatta over the weekend. Yet I guarantee most of the guys on the team will do a self-scheduled workout because we want to get faster, we want to win, we want to beat these bigger programs and put Colgate Rowing on the map."

Seth Rosen (Frosh/Novice 4+): "The biggest key to our success in our races was just trusting our training. We have all put in a lot of work this winter to be as fast as we can come Dad Vails, and this race helped to show us that work paid off. We didn't row nearly as well as some of the other crews we raced because our lake has been frozen for so long, but we just out worked them over the winter.

"For the Grand Final, we already had raced the crew that was the biggest competition for us and were a little afraid that they could take us in the final. Our race plan was to get as far out ahead of them as possible as soon as possible and to just hold the gap on them. The plan kind of worked but they kept up hard until the 1,000-meter mark and then we started to walk on them as they didn't have the endurance to keep up.

"As for the growth of the crew. it's been quite the adventure rowing with them as we have constantly been switching people in an out of the boat. But ultimately it has been a pleasure not only helping them learn to row but also racing with these guys."


 
Colgate's crew and results were as follows:
 
Novice 4+
Cox: Katie Murray.
Crew: 4 David McKay, 3 Christoffer Hovard, 2 Seth Rosen, 1 Chase Zammit.
Finish: Colgate won all three races. The Raiders were first in Heat 4 by 5.40 seconds over MIT, with Gordon, Army and Washington College following. In the Semifinal 1, Colgate again prevailed, this time over Gordon by a whopping 30.76 seconds, with New Hampshire, Army, Connecticut and Penn State following. In the Grand Final, it was Colgate by 4.65 seconds over MIT, with Bowdoin, New Hampshire, Gordon and Connecticut in arrears.
 
Varsity 8+
Cox: Tali Filstein.
Crew: S Matt Oakley, 7 Alex Damjanovic, 6 Sam Gatsos, 5 Ben Moffa, 4 Gian Civitello, 3 Luke Smith, 2 David McCarthy, B Peter Rex.
Finish: Colgate won Heat 2 by 4.93 seconds over Temple, with Mercyhurst, Delaware and Connecticut following. The Raiders finished second to Delaware Lights by 4.07 in Semifinal 2, with Virginia, Army, Ithaca and Delaware following. In the final, Delaware Lights again prevailed, this time by 0.88 seconds, with Michigan, Mercyhurst, Trinity and Virginia rounding out the six.