George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Occoquan Sprints (men)
Men's Rowing Races in Occoquan Sprints
4/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Crew
April 7, 2003
LORTON, VA - The GW Men's Rowing team competed at the Occoquan Sprints near Lorton, VA, Sunday. GW faced an armada of Philadelphia crews, including Saint Joseph's, Drexel and Villanova as well as lightweight crews from the Naval Academy, one of the top lightweight programs in the country. The weather was ideal for most of the day, temperatures in the 50s and a slight headwind.
The GW novice won its heat, coasting to the finish line throughout the second 1,000 meters of the race.
"It was a great opportunity for them to work on their race cadence and simply gain some confidence," GW coach Matt Boyle said.
The freshmen were ready to race and it showed as they came off the line with the other leading crews. Through the crucial middle 1,000 meters of the race, however, they lost a little bit of ground yet still found themselves in the thick of things with about 750 meters to go. At that point, Navy and Saint Joseph's made a final push for the line and the Colonials finished in third place. Despite their third-place finish, the freshmen looked better than in previous outings. "They are discovering a powerful rhythm and will now look to build on that as the season progresses," said GW novice coach Jim O'Connor.
The second varsity had a final-only race and Boyle was pleased that their rowing improved significantly from last week. "They were not able to challenge for the lead in their race but they certainly took steps forward in a very positive direction," Boyle said. "Although they have struggled to this point, the oarsmen in that crew have kept their heads up and are willing to do whatever it takes to turn things around." Volunteer assistant coach Brad Parr will be working with them extensively over the next few weeks to have them ready to compete on a higher level.
The varsity had a heat in the morning and the Grand Final in the afternoon. Coming off of wins at the Stetson Invitational over Spring Break, along with their defeat of Virginia last week, the GW men stood at 2-0 and were looking to extend that winning streak. The competition, however, was up to the challenge. There were three heats to get into the Grand Final, the top two from each heat would advance. The winning time in each of the heats were separated by less than one second. Boyle commented, "We did not have a particularly strong race in the heat, we won easily but the crew did not execute the race plan the way I had instructed them to and therefore they did not perform up the their abilities. They had about three hours between the heat and final to consider how they were going to race in the Grand Final." In the final, GW led from wire to wire. The crew held a lead of about six seats over Saint Joseph's and Navy going into the 1,000-meter point. It is at the 1,000 that GW uses a strategic move in an attempt to extend its lead over the field. When Colonials coxswain Evan Johnson (Guilford, CT/Guilford) made the call for that crucial move, the shell moved out to an open-water lead that they would never relinquish. Navy made a spirited charge during the last few hundred meters but GW held its ground, winning in a time of 5:53.
Boyle added, "It was a solid race for our varsity yet we still have a lot of work to do. We race on Saturday against some of the top crews in the country down on the Potomac and we will certainly need plenty of fan support to urge the GW crews to victory."
GW Varsity Men's Crew:
cox: Evan Johnson
stroke: Jon D'Alba (Berwyn, PA/Conestoga)
7. Victor Marwin (Snyder, NY/Canisius)
6. Joe Richards (Syracuse, NY/C.W. Baker)
5. Alex Cashman (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon)
4. Justin Luther (St. Louis, MO/Hazelwood Central)
3. Karl Crow (Kennedyville, MD/St. Andrew's)
2. James Thomas (Barrington, RI/Kent)
bow: Steve Carlson (Southborough, MA/Saint Markis)
Men's Junior Varsity 8
Saint Joseph's 6:27.3
Drexel 6:36.8
Navy 6:38.3
George Washington 6:55.4
Men's Novice 8
Navy 6:11.6
Saint Joseph's "A" 6:23.0
George Washington 6:23.5
Saint Joseph's "B" 6:35.9
George Mason 7:10.6
Men's Varsity 8
Grand Final
George Washington 5:53.3
Navy 5:56.6
Drexel 5:58.1
Saint Joseph's 6:01.5
George Mason 6:13.1
Villanova 6:19.0
The GW men's rowing team next hosts the GW Invitational Crew Classic on Saturday, April 12, on the Potomac River.
Men's Rowing relies primarily on 'walk-on' athletes. Interested freshmen are encouraged to e-mail gwcrew@gwu.edu for information on how to join the team.