Men's Rowing | 5/16/2017 10:20:00 PM
WORCESTER, MA – The RIT men's crew team wrapped up the spring season at the 2017 National Invitational Rowing Championships on Friday, May 12 on Lake Quinsigamond. RIT captured silver in the novice eight for the first time in program history.
Racing in a finals only format, RIT's novice eight of
Liam Brodie (New York, NY/John Jay),
Adriano Decastro (Stonington, CT/Stonington),
John Habjan (New Milford, CT/New Milford),
Michael Coy (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa),
Hutch Hyde (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool),
Dan Measer (Westford, MA/Westford Academy),
Jakob Southern (Hopkinton, MA/Hopkinton),
Ramsey Doolittle (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) and
Michael Trossman (Canonsburg, PA/Canon McMillan) covered the 2,000-meter course in a time of 6:11.625. The Tigers made a deliberate shift in the sprint to win silver. Boston College was first, less than four seconds ahead, and Williams rounded out the podium with a time of 6:13.313. This was RIT's first medal in the novice eight and highest program finish since the Tigers won bronze in the varsity eight at the Champion Regatta (now NIRC) in 1997.
The Tigers' varsity and second varsity eight had to qualify for the afternoon finals by competing in morning heats. The top two finishers in each heat progressed to the grand final, the next two to the petite final, and the last two to the third level final.
The varsity eight clocked a time of 5:59.465 in the morning heat for third to advance to the petite final, just over two seconds off second place Williams. Hobart placed first with a time of 5:55.018.
In the afternoon's final,
Christopher Atras (Willow Grove,PA/Archbishop Wood ),
Tim Frey (New Freedom, PA/Susquehannock),
Connor Murdock (Hopkinton, MA/Hopkinton),
Doug Moyer (Downingtown, PA/Dowingtown West),
Nicholas Amendola (Buffalo,NY/Orchard Park),
Chris Satter (Boulder, CO/Fairview), Timothy Mastellar,
Matt Kehoe (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) and
Tim Preskenis (Simsbury, CT/Simsbury) raced the course in 6:13.460 to finish third. RIT was less than half a second behind second place Wesleyan (6:13.112). Bucknell took first with a time of 6:09.466 and Colby College (6:15.296), Ithaca College (6:21.885) and Coast Guard (6:21.911) rounded out the field.
The second varsity eight of
Frank Sankey (Rochester, NY/Brighton),
Spencer Gasiorowski (Milwaukee, WI/Whitefish Bay),
Ryan Fairbanks (Cape Vincent, NY/Thousand Islands),
James Cummings (Westford, MA/Westford Academy),
Henry Zimmerman (Winnetka, IL/Winnetka), Joe Hunt,
Matt Wagner (Springville, NY/Springville),
Jeff Strauch (Lockport, NY/Starpoint) and
Nicholas Krzysiak (Utica, NY/Proctor) finished fourth in their heat with a time of 6:16.039. The Tigers edged Bucknell by less than half a second to secure a spot in the petite final. Hobart won the heat with a time of 6:02.862.
RIT raced to a fourth place finish in the petite final, crossing the line in 6:19.363. Four seconds separated the Tigers from first place WPI. U Mass (6:18.370), and Ithaca (6:18.840) claimed second and third, respectively.
The future is bright for the Tigers, who look to veteran leadership and a large crop of rising varsity oarsmen to continue building boat speed in 2017-2018.
