May 16, 2010

 

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 8 Wisconsin men’s rowing team was led by its third varsity eight, which captured its second consecutive title, at the 2010 Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Conference Championships on Sunday. The Eastern Sprints, as their also known, took place on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.

In the headline race of the day, Wisconsin clocked a 5:39.208 to place fourth. Harvard captured the race in 5:33.007, while Princeton, 5:35.507 and Brown (5:36.917) rounded out the top three finishers.

The varsity eight was a battle all day, with some great surprises in the morning heats. One such surprise involved third-seeded Yale, who failed to even reach the grand final after ninth-seeded Columbia won the third heat in a photo finish over second-place Wisconsin and third-place Yale. Only the top two boats advance to the grand final. Columbia clocked a 5:42.373, with the Badgers second in 5:42.442 and Yale third in 5:42.593.

"Pretty good day at the Sprints," said head coach Chris Clark. "The varsity eight really spun their wheels in the heat and really didn't go to according what we had planned. It cost them and everyone else in our heat. Their legs were shot for the grand final and the best they could manage was fourth. They really didn't have any gas at all. Again, not bad, but they were expecting more, so they were a little disappointed."

Wisconsin’s second varsity eight took third in its race, with Brown winning in 5:36.362. Cornell grabbed the second slot in 5:38.608, with the Badgers third in 5:39.260.

Clark said, "The second varsity did well in their heat, but had some pretty rough water in the final and were a little disappointed in what happened and were a little disappointed in leaving with the bronze medal."

UW’s victory in the third varsity eight was its second in as many years as the crew of coxswain Michael Patinkin, Dave Lucas, John Ludders, Dan Moore, Will Porter, Dan Agostinacchio, Brian Whyms, Chris Stiles and Cory Hatton gave the Badgers their 16th all-time Eastern Sprints boat title.

"The third varsity was two races, wire-to-wire perfect the whole way," stated Clark. "That is the seventh time we've won that event so they are no strangers to that."

In the freshmen races, UW’s top boat won the petite final to place seventh. The Badgers had been seeded 11th coming into the championship. Wisconsin’s second freshmen eight placed third out of four crews and exactly where it was seeded.

"In the freshmen eight, winning petites is not an objective of ours in the long run, but nevertheless, they have come a long way," mentioned Clark. "They have really improved since the start of the season and so we are all happy about it."

Wisconsin returns to the water for its next races on May 28 against George Washington in a tune-up for the the national championships. Then the Badgers race June 3-5 at the 2010 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships, also in Camden, N.J. Racing takes place on the Cooper River.

2010 Eastern Sprints
May 16, 2010
Lake Quinsigamond
Worcester, Mass.
2,000 meters

Varsity Eight
Grand Final
1. Harvard, 5:33.007; 2. Princeton, 5:35.507; 3. Brown, 5:36.917; 4. Wisconsin, 5:39.208; 5. Dartmouth, 5:39.208; 6. Columbia, 5:43.481

Heat 3 (Top 2 to Grand Final)
1. Columbia, 5:42.373; 2. Wisconsin, 5:42.442; 3. Yale, 5:42.593; 4. Boston University, 5:49.137; 5. Georgetown, 5:54.550; 6. Holy Cross, 6:02.003

UW Lineup: Coxswain Anthony Altimari, Tim Aghai, Roger Huffman, Matt Lojkovic, Max Goff, Luke Juckett, Steve Dudek, Daniel Gengler, Sam Hoidal

Second Varsity Eight
Grand Final
1. Brown, 5:36.362; 2. Cornell, 5:38.608; 3. Wisconsin, 5:39.260; 4. Harvard, 5:44.558; 5. Princeton, 5:45.124; 6. Northeastern, 5:54.094

Heat 3 (Top 2 to Grand Final)
1. Wisconsin, 5:49.169; 2. Princeton, 5:52.961; 3. Columbia, 5:54.642; 4. Navy, 6:03.182; 5. Georgetown, 6:11.503; 6. Rutgers, 6:13. 332

UW Lineup: Coxswain Matt Francsis, Michael Kaufman, Zach Rodenbough, Paul Williams, James Hadar, Jack Yeksigian, Andrew Gallagher, Ryan Thompson, Eric Duhon

Third Varsity Eight
Grand Final
1. Wisconsin, 5:41.300; 2. Brown, 5:43.349; 3. Harvard, 5:44.130; 4. Cornell, 5:48.973; 5. Yale, 5:51.614; 6. Princeton, 5:53.874

Heat 1 (Top 3 to Grand Final, rest to B Final)
1. Wisconsin, 5:57.085; 2. Yale, 6:00.700; 3. Princeton, 6:05.310; 4. Boston University, 6:09.422; 5. Dartmouth, 6:21.004

UW Lineup: Coxswain Michael Patinkin, Dave Lucas, John Ludders, Dan Moore, Will Porter, Dan Agostinacchio, Brian Whyms, Chris Stiles, Cory Hatton

Freshmen Eight
B Final
1. Wisconsin, 5:48.900; 2. Brown, 5:49.470; 3. Syracuse, 5:51.007; 4. Navy, 5:52.360; 5. Penn, 5:55.008; 6. Yale, 5:55.771

Heat 2 (Top 2 to Grand Final, 3-4 to B Final, 5-6 to C Final)
1. Princeton, 5:48.993; 2. Cornell, 5:50.743; 3. Wisconsin, 5:57.329; 4. Syracuse, 5:58.296; 5. Northeastern, 6:03.166; 6. George Washington, 6:15.398

Coxswain Chris Lawrence, Andrew Weiland, Matt Hinkamp, Tyler Dawson, Drew Miller, Alec Hub, Cody Rissman, Casey Klein Kennedy, Ben Ruble

Second Freshmen Eight
Grand Final
1. Cornell, 5:53.480; 2. Navy, 5:54.555; 3. Wisconsin, 6:08.249; 4. George Washington, 6:16.226

Coxswain Eric Rhiel, Brady Steinbach, Jacob Warhuus, Evan Robertson, Justin Chaudoir, Cal Nuthals, Charles Holtz, Alex Grunyk, Lowell McNicholas