Men's Rowing | 10/12/2009 4:43:00 PM
ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT men's crew squad raced this weekend in the 21st annual Head of the Genesee Regatta, held on the Genesee River as it winds through Genesee Valley Park. The Regatta is the headlining event of the City of Rochester's River Romance Weekend and draws many people to the banks of the Genesee. The Regatta features a unique format, with a 5,000-meter head race in the morning and a 1,500-meter sprint in the afternoon.
The Tigers' varsity 8 finished fourth overall in the Collegiate 8 division behind Marietta, Hobart and Mercyhurst. Their head race time of 15:38.56 pitted them against Hobart in the afternoon sprint. The line-up featured coxswain
Dan Knorr (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna), stroke #
Kevin Macksamie (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili)#, seven seat #
Mark Menzenski (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca)#, six seat #
Justin Dixon (Factoryville, PA/Lackawanna Trail)#, five seat #
Cameron Staunch (Fairport, NY/Fairport)#, four seat
Matt Hesselink (Kalamazoo, MI/Kalamazoo Christian), three seat #
Jon Shannon (Lunenburg, MA/Lunenburg)#, two seat #
George Spragins (Brockport, NY/Brockport) and bow (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh)Bryan Abbott (Simsbury, CT/Simsbury)#. RIT finished the sprint in 4:34.28, seven seconds off Hobart (4:27.01).
RIT's JV8 finished eighth in the collegiate division with a time of 16:09.35, and were pitted against Hobart's JV8 in the afternoon. They edged the Statesmen by just under four seconds, racing the 1,500m sprint in 4:35.52. The Tigers were powered by coxswain #
Graeme Buckley (Penfield, NY/Penfield)#, stroke #
Stu Burgess (Buffalo, NY/City Honors)#, seven seat #
Anthony Castaneda (Fairfax, VA/Fairfax)#, six seat #
Ben Kaiser (Medina, NY/Medina)#, five seat #
Evan Moreshead (Saco, ME/Thornton Academy)#, four seat #
Pat Shand (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet)#, three seat #
Paul Fisher (Wyoming, OH/Wyoming)#, two seat #
Michael Kitson (McLean, VA/McLean) and bow (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh)Sean Harder (Cheverly, MD/DeMatha Catholic)#.
The Tigers' novice 8 had an excellent first performance of the season, winning a bronze medal in the novice event. Coxswain TJ Binotto, stroke Pat Lambie, seven seat Sam Fisher, six seat
Chris Massey (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields), five seat Mike Young, four seat
Josh Prahler (Webster, NY), three seat Matt Parker, two seat Nathan Sweet and bow
Peter Bryan () navigated the 5,000m course in 17:51.67. Bucknell won the event with a time of 16:41.5, followed by the University of Rochester (17:39.98) and RIT.
Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend brought many alumni and family to the Regatta to support the crews. RIT raced a mixed Alumni 8, with grads spanning the last five years in a showdown with the University of Rochester's alumni boat. The Tigers' put in a solid race, and will have two more opportunities to represent RIT in alumni boats this fall, at the Head of the Charles and the Head of the Fish regattas.
The Tigers race next Sunday, October 18, at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Mass.
