October 18, 2012
“Clear day, strong crews, can’t lose!” should have been the slogan of the day for the men’s and women’s crew teams at the Head of the Genesee Regatta on Oct. 13 in Rochester. The Continentals made a splash with some top finishes, proving that Hamilton is a formidable competitor in Division III collegiate rowing.
“So far, I am very pleased with how we have been racing and improving over the course of the fall season,” said Coach Eric Summers. “We are young, but have a lot of talent, so I expect big things out of this group as we finish out the fall and look toward the spring season.”
In Rochester, the cold and cloudy morning weather dissipated as the day went on. Hundreds of crews navigated the Genesee River course with a light but consistent tail wind. In the morning, rowers pushed through a 5-kilometer head race with a staggered start. Based on those results, boats were then matched up in pairs for a 1.5-kilometer sprint race. The sprint time was multiplied by two and then added to the 5-kilometer race time in order to determine each boat’s overall time.
Starting off the morning for the Continentals, the men’s team finished third out of eight boats in the open men’s four event. Jamie Levia-Cabrera ’14 served as coxswain for the four, and the boat included Captain Aaron Whiteman ’13 as stroke seat, Landon Morin ’16 in bow seat, Captain Dylan Jackson ’13 in three-seat and Grant Meglis ’15 in two-seat.
In the collegiate eights event, Hamilton placed 15th out of 21 boats. As coxswain, Jack Cavanaugh ’16 directed the Hamilton eight; Andrew Szatkowski ’15 was in the stroke seat. The rest of the boat included: Alex Cates ’15, Philip Ewing ’15, Jared Lippman ’16, Patrick English ’15, Simon Judd ’13, Marc Horschman ’16 and Jack Wagner ’15.
Captain Dylan Jackson ’13 noted that the team is committed to keeping up the momentum from a successful past spring season. He looks forward to good racing performances in the next couple of weeks at the Head of the Charles in Cambridge, MA and the Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia, PA.
Among the 17 boats in the women’s collegiate eights race, the Hamilton women’s A entry finished second and Hamilton’s B entry finished 10th. Captain Kelsey Burke ’13 served as coxswain for the A entry and Captain Rachel Johnson ’13 was in stroke seat. The rest of the boat included Becca Straw ’15, Margaret Hylas ’15, Caroline Watson ’15, Captain Helen Higgins ’13, Jessica Pedersen ’15 Erin Gerrity ’15 and Karly Moore ’15.
In the B entry, Heather Piekarz ’16 was the coxswain and Emma Zanazzi ’15 was at stroke. The rest of the boat included Ally Kontra ’15, Grace Bowers ’15, Fiona Hoffman-Harland ’13, Hideko Nara ’15, Annie Lindahl ’15, Hannah Zucker ’15 and Meredith Garner ’15.
Hamilton’s novice women’s eight finished second. Yeun Jae Song ’16 was coxswain and Jess Sofen ’16 was in stroke seat. The rest of the boat included Keara Lynn ’16, Julia Coash ’16, Rachael Feuerstein ’16, Kate Schramm ’16, Mollie Major ’14 and Rachel Landman ’15 and Lia Parker-Belfer ’16.
The men’s four placed third out of 12 boats and the men’s eight placed 15th out of 23 boats at the Head of the Genesse on Oct. 13. They race next at the Head of the Charles on Oct. 20.
The women’s eight placed second at the Oct. 13 Head of the Genesee. They race next at the Head of the Charles on Oct. 20.