Crew measures up at Dad Vail Regatta

Philadelphia, Pa. - The women's varsity and men's novice fours traveled to the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia for the first time to compete against some of the best NCAA Division II, Division III, and club programs from around the country.  Despite drawing two of the most difficult heats in the field, both crews rowed well and proved they can hang with some tough competition.

 
The men's novice 4+ (c: Mariah Scanlon, 4: Scott MacPhee, 3: Clayton Morrissey, 2: Stephen Harper, 1: Alston Adkins) were seeded in a 6-boat quarter-final with the University of Michigan, Army, University of Buffalo, Lafayette College, and St. Thomas University with the top two crews from each of nine heats advancing to one of three semifinal heats.  The Gulls finished fifth in their heat with a time of 7:33, which ended up featuring two crews (Michigan and Army) who advanced all the way to the final.  The men's time was better than nearly half the 47 boat field and was faster than a couple of boats that advanced out of other heats.  After beating a St. Thomas crew, which drove all the way out from Houston  for the regatta, the Endicott men were very proud, declaring it "by far (their) best race of the season" and Coach Chorney was very pleased in the first season of an Endicott men’s 4+ crew.

On the women's side, Endicott raced in a five-boat quarterfinal as the only club team in their heat of the varsity women's (DII/DIII) 4+ event, racing fully-funded NCAA programs: Mercyhurst College, Seattle Pacific College, Marietta College, and the University of Central Oklahoma.  The ladies (c: Katie Cody, 4: Joy Harriman, 3: Andrea Ford, 2: Courtney Russell, 1: Haley Russo) ended up fourth (top 3 advance to semi-finals), just eight seconds behind a powerful Marietta crew, despite having a boat of all freshmen and sophomores.  At the 1000m mark, the ladies were right in the thick of things, but after the crews traded blows, Marietta pulled away in the last 500m to advance.  Despite missing out on the semifinals, both coaches received positive feedback throughout the day on how well the crew rowed.

The team now heads into summer, knowing where the bar is set and looking forward to attending Dad Vail again next year and advancing to the semifinals or possibly further.  Full results below:

Men's Freshman/Novice 4+, Heat \#9:
1st Army - 07:08.11
2nd Michigan U - 07:10.84
3rd Buffalo - 07:15.88
4th Lafayette - 07:23.95
5th Endicott - 07:33.71
6th St. Thomas - 07:37.36

Women's Varsity 4+ (DII/DIII), Heat \#2:
1st Mercyhurst - 08:01.77
2nd Seattle Pacific - 08:10.01
3rd Marietta - 08:18.66
4th Endicott - 08:26.02
5th Central Oklahoma  - 09:23.65