Men's Rowing | 4/20/2009 3:03:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's crew squad competed this weekend under blue skis and sun against Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Tufts University. Lake Quinsigamond's 2,000 meter course had a 10 miles-per hour tailwind that developed a slight chop in the second 1,000 meters.

The varsity eight was second in a four boat field, finishing in a time of 5:56.59, 5.69 seconds off WPI A. The line-up featured coxswain Dan Knorr (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna), stroke #Cameron Staunch (Fairport, NY/Fairport)#, seven seat #Kevin Macksamie (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili) six seat (Schaumburg, IL/John Hersey)André Jarreau#, five seat #Justin Dixon (Factoryville, PA/Lackawanna Trail)#, four seat #Drew Lawlor (Erie, PA/Fairview)#, three seat Brett Fritzsch (North Haledon, NJ/Eastern Christian High School), two seat #Spencer Trafton (Brockport, NY/Brockport) and bow (Schaumburg, IL/John Hersey)Chris Guerra (West Seneca, NY/Canisius)#. WPI B and Tufts finished third and fourth, respectively.

The Tigers' varsity four was second out of four boats, posting a time of 6:55.27. The line-up was comprised of coxswain Alyssa Mulholland (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy), stroke #Bryan Abbott (Simsbury, CT/Simsbury)#, three seat #Stu Burgess (Buffalo, NY/City Honors)#, two seat #Jason Gallant (Clinton, ME/Lawrence) and bow (Schaumburg, IL/John Hersey)Bryce Salmi (Chelmsford, MA/Chelmsford)#.

Although they did not travel to Worcester, RIT's novices raced in Rochester Sunday against the University of Rochester and Geneseo. The Tigers had a triumphant day, with the A boat finishing first in a time of 5:39 and the B boat finishing second, posting a time of 5:47. The Yellowjackets' lightweight eight (6:08) and the Blue Knights' varsity eight (6:15) rounded out the field. Both boats set the tone of the race from the start, breaking away at the 500 meter mark and continuing to spread the field over the course of the race. RIT A was comprised of #Cole Bowden (Bradford, MA/Havemill)#, #Matthew Hesselink (Fort Portage, MI/Kalamazoo Christian)#, #Evan Martin (McLean, VA/McLean)#, #Evan Moreshead (Saco, ME/Tharntan)#, Mark Menzenksi, #John Pagano (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic)#, #Ben Kaiser (Medina, NY/Medina)#, #Anthony Castaneda (Fairfax, VA/Fairfax) and Mike Kitson#. RIT B was made up of #Graeme Buckley (Penfield, NY/Penfield)#, #Paul Fisher (Wyoming, OH/Wyoming)#, #David Sonneborn (Syracuse, NY/Manlius Pebble Hill)#, Patrick Shand, #Brian Kesselmeyer (Gillette, NJ/Watchung Hills)#, #Alex Bradley (Port Ocala, FL/Hopuinton)#, #Sean Sutton ()#, #Sean Harder (Cheverly, MD/DeMatha Catholic) and Steve Halewski#.

Coaches Brendon Evans (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) and Nathan Fukuwa were very proud of the performances of their crews. Coach Fukuwa said of the racing, “Everyone showed a tremendous amount of focus and determination and our hard work this weekend definitely paid off.”

The Tigers return to the water on Saturday, April 25, travelling to Hamilton College.