Bucknell Men’s Crew opened their season with the first official race at the 37th Murphy Cup on the Cooper River in Camden, NJ. The racing was originally planned to be on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, PA, but due to a high flow rate, the venue had to be relocated. Although a blue bird and relatively warm day for March, there was a high tail-wind on the course all day, which led to only the Varsity 8+ Petite and Grand finals being run, and all small boats being canceled. White caps and large waves battered the course all day, but crews were still able to safely race. A huge thank you goes out to Temple University and the Owl’s Head Coach Rebecca Grzybowski for hosting!
The first race of the day for the Bison was the 1V’s four boat heat. In order to advance to the Grand Finals, they would have to take first or second place but crossed the finish line in third, progressing to the Petite Finals. In the heat, Bucknell finished with a time of 6:22 behind Marist (6:08) and Notre Dame (6:15) and a head of LaSalle (6:24). In the Petite Final, the crew was able to find new ground and sense of rhythm. Although the conditions persisted, the 1V had a cleaner row and used the tail wind to their advantage which allowed to to win the Petite Final with a time of 6:10. Coming in behind Bucknell would be Lehigh (6:16), LaSalle (6:19), Delaware (6:23), Villanova (6:25), and Rhode Island (6:45).
The Men’s 2nd Varsity 8 had similar a experience on the race course. After a tough heat, Bucknell posted a time of 6:36 behind Temple B (6:10), Notre Dame (6:18), and Drexel (6:29) and advanced to the Petite Final. Here again the Bison found a better rhythm and worked with the worsening weather conditions. Having a close fight all of the way down the course with Drexel, Bucknell would take the win with a final time of 6:17 over Drexel (6:19), Delaware (6:44), and Rhode Island (7:09).
Over in the Men’s 3V event, Bucknell would post a time of 6:48 the enter into the Grand Final against Notre Dame (6:29) and Temple A (6:43), with LaSalle (7:00) closing the field. Following suit, the 3V would see a much better race and have a tougher fight in their second race of the day. After jumping the field off the line, Bucknell stayed in battle with Notre Dame through the whole race. Closing the race out with a time of 6:41, Bucknell would come in behind Drexel (6:06), Temple B (6:20), Marist (6:26) and Notre Dame (6:37), with Temple A (6:43) closing the race.
The Men’s Varsity 4+ was only able to race their heat before the Final was canceled. Taking the mindset of one race at a time, the Bison had a strong start, taking open water on all other crews before setting into their race pace. After the race, Coxswain Max Silverman ’22 said: “we kept this lead and extended it throughout the race because we were able to row better than the other crews in the wind.” They posted a finishing time of 7:22 over Drexel (7:44), Susquehanna (8:36) and Washington College B (9:16). Since the Finals were canceled, medals were awarded to the top three crews over all heats combined. Bucknell took home Gold with Loyola (7:26) with the Silver, and Marist (7:37) taking Bronze, both from heat 2.
The Bison were set to race a Men’s Varsity 2-, but given that the event was to be straight to Finals in the afternoon with no heats, the race was canceled with all other small boats.
Up next, Bucknell Men’s Crew will travel to Ithaca, NY on March 30th for the Cayuga Duals where Bucknell University, Cornell University Lwts, Ithaca College, Hobart College, and Johnson & Wales University will meet for two-boat duels with the 1/2/3V 8+s and the V4+.
Lineups
1st Varsity 8 – 2018 Resolute Mid-weight
Cox: Max Silverman ’22
8: Drew Stonnington ’19
7: Ryan McSherry ’19
6: Philip Onffroy ’22
5: Alex Seel ’20
4: John Leasure ’19
3: Tom Lanphier ’20
2: Bobby Subak ’21
Bow: Harry Hobart ’22
2nd Varsity 8 – Class of 1985
Cox: Daniel Joseph ’22
8: Matt Brown ’20
7: Matt LaRouche ’20
6: Chris Mangano ’21
5: Davis MacKelcan ’22
4: Peter Foradora ’22
3: Alex Herman ’20
2: Gunnar Vorwerk ’19
Bow: Duncan Ragland ’19
3rd Varsity 8 – Scott Uebele ’00
Cox: Brody Mistrot ’21
8: Liam Pearce ’21
7: Aaron Swope ’22
6: Phil Thompson ’20
5: Liutauras Repsys ’20
4: Ryan Wang ’19
3: Cian Nowak ’22
2: Taylor LaRosa ’21
Bow: Jackson Ingram ’21
Varsity 4+ – 2001 Empacher
Cox: Max Silverman ’22
4: Nick Caravias ’22
3: Christian Sieck ’22
2: Sebastian Bickford ’21
Bow: Conrad Fite ’22
Varsity 2-
Stroke: Taylor LaRosa ’21
Bow: Sam Jacob ’20