Men's Rowing | 10/21/2009 3:07:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT varsity men's crew raced this weekend in the 45th annual Head of the Charles Regatta, held on the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. The Regatta was a headlining event in the City of Boston and drew crews from all around the world – from elite, masters, college, and high school athletes.

The men's varsity eight competed in the Men's Collegiate Eight event on Sunday, finishing 18th in a thirty-eight boat field with a time of 16:37, earning them an automatic qualifier for next year. Conditions were extremely cold and windy for all the crews racing. The Tigers were powered by 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 seat #Bryan Abbott (Simsbury, CT/Simsbury)#.

The weekend also brought many RIT Crew alumni together to race in club or alumni events. The “Vintage RIT” women's club four crew comprised of coxswain Erin Fredericks (Wilmington, DE/Concord), stroke Michelle Hershey, three seat Jenna Venturini (Woodbridge, VA/Gar-Field), two seat Sarah Exley (Lower Merion, PA/Gwynedd-Mercy), and bow seat Sarah Clarke (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin High School). The crew clashed oars with Middlebury College but did make the turn through the Week's Bridge, one of the toughest turns on the course. The women sported pink t-shirts with a tiger head logo with “Vintage RIT” printed across the front. Even though they finished in last place, they said their favorite moment was “hearing all the fellow alumni cheering them on under the Elliot Bridge.”

The men's alumni eight said they had a terrific warm up but that it went all down hill from there, finishing 31st out of 34 boats. This crew was powered by coxswain Bryan Comer (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton High School), stroke Royce Abel (Albany, NY/Niskayuna), seven seat Chris MacKay (Newton, MA), six seat Bill Bernabe five seat Jim Purvis, four seat Dan Hershey (Burke, Va.), three seat Scott Niejadlik, two seat Derik Bibb (Jericho, VT/Mount Mansfield Union), and bow seat Scott DeFisher (Sodus, NY/Sodus). The crew insisted that they had executed their game plan but that unfortunately, making tight turns wasn't a part of it. Next time they said, “we want coach to put in the “knife skeg” rudder instead of the traditional one.

There was one alumnus who did not struggle with his racing – Mike Sivigny '97 won the Men's Championship Singles event for elite athletes in a time of 18:01, beating out several national team scullers and former and present Olympians. Sivigny, 36 years of age, rows and trains out of the GMS Rowing Center in New Milford, Conn. He finished second last year at the Head of the Charles and is currently training hard to make the United States National Team for the 2012 Olympics.