Fall update from the Men's Team

By Ben Pfeiffer, Team President

Bucknell Men's Crew began their Fall 2002 season with an uncertain future. In late August, with a new athletic classification, no official coaching staff and only a small core of determined varsity rowers to drive the program, the team was in a unique, and unfamiliar position. Now, three months later, the team's outlook has improved tremendously.

Under the supervision of new head coach (and longtime volunteer) Derek Updegraff '93, the varsity men once again hit the water to refine their skills. At the same time, a new novice squad of 18 rowers was selected after a week of intense tryout activities. In the following weeks, two novice eights and a varsity eight took shape as the team approached their first major regatta, the Head of the Schuylkill.

Novice Boat Parents Weekend	Varsity Boat Parents Weekend

On October 26th in Philadelphia, early morning rainclouds scattered for a gorgeous day of racing on a new, inverted HOSR race course. The varsity men took an impressive 7th in the open club eights event and the novice men got their first taste of head racing against some of the best novice programs in the nation.

The following weekend the novice men wasted no time in demonstrating their potential, as the "A" boat captured 3rd at the Head of the Occoquan Regatta, in a field of 25 crews. The varsity men finished a solid 10th in the open club eights event.

Now with the fall racing season behind them, the Men's Crew Team turns it's attention to the winter training and fundraising that will carry them through the Spring.