Men's Rowing | 10/29/2008 12:51:08 PM

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The RIT men's crew boats closed out the fall season Sunday with strong showings at the Head of the Fish Regatta on Fish Creek. All boats finished within the top ten, with several races having 30 or more entries.

The varsity 8 finished fourth overall in the Collegiate 8 event with a time of 10:47.55. RIT's line-up featured coxswain Dan Knorr (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna), stroke Cameron Staunch (Fairport, NY/Fairport), seven seat #Trevor Reid, six seat (Schaumburg, IL/John Hersey)Drew Lawlor#, five seat Justin Dixon (Factoryville, PA/Lackawanna Trail), four seat Andre Jarreau (Brentwood, TN/Brentwood), three seat Danny Martin, two seat Spencer Trafton (Brockport, NY/Brockport) and bow Kevin Macksamie (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili). The top three boats, in descending order, were Wesleyan College, Hobart College and Colgate University.

RIT's varsity four had a fourth place finish in the Collegiate Light 4 event. Coxswain Mike Graae, stroke Bryan Abbott (Simsbury, CT/Simsbury), three seat Eric Calegorakis, two seat Chris Guerra (West Seneca, NY/Canisius) and bow Bryce Salmi (Chelmsford, MA/Chelmsford) raced the course in 21:52.73. First place went to New York Maritime College (12:29.75).

In the Collegiate JV 8 event, RIT finished fifth. RIT's line-up of coxswain Brendan Larrabbe, stroke John Pagano (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic), seven seat Evan Martin (McLean, VA/McLean), six seat Sean Harder (Cheverly, MD/DeMatha Catholic), five seat Mike Kitson (McLean, VA/McLean), four seat Paul Fisher (Wyoming, OH/Wyoming), three seat Stu Burgess (Buffalo, NY/City Honors), two seat Anthony Castaneda (Fairfax, VA/Fairfax) and bow Taz Zavery (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) had a time of 11:32:03.

The novice 8 finished eighth in the Collegiate Novice 8 event. Men's novice coaches Brendon Evans (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) and Nate Fukuwa (San Pedro, CA/Vestal) were more than pleased with the eight's time of 11:58.2. “They exceeded our expectations today, and the hard work and dedication all of the novice men have shown this fall is encouraging as we head into winter training.” The eight was comprised of coxswain Cole Bowden (Bradford, MA/Havemill), stroke Matt Hesselink (Fort Portage, MI/Kalamazoo Christian), seven seat Ben Kaiser (Medina, NY/Medina), six seat Evan Moorsehead, five seat  Mark Menzenski (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca), four seat George Spagins, three seat Brian Kesselmeyer (Gillette, NJ/Watchung Hills), two seat Trent Seeling and bow Jon Shannon (Lunenburg, MA/Lunenburg).

RIT's only gold medal finishes at the Head of the Fish came from alumnus Mike Sivigny '97. After winning a silver medal at the Head of the Charles last weekend racing against some of the world's most elite rowers, Sivigny won fish heads in the men's open single event and the men's open double on Saturday at the Fish. He then headed down to Philly to race Sunday in the Head of the Schuylkill, where he garnered another gold medal.