Heavyweight Men Race Navy, UVA at the GW Invitational
The heavyweights raced heats and finals on Saturday against a field of strong competition. In the men's varsity heat, controversy led to an official protest after officials started the race while the Georgetown coxswain's hand was raised to signal to the officials that he was still lining up his boat. Because the boat was not ready for the official's quick start, the boat found itself a length down to the field of George Mason, UVA, and Navy within the first ten strokes. The situation only became worse as Mason steered into Georgetown's blades early on. After the rough first 500 meters, the crew settled into a rhythm and walked back on a strong UVA crew but was unable to catch them with the quick racing conditions on the Potomac. In the afternoon, with a slight head wind emerging, conditions became choppier. In the petite final, the varsity eight held off a gutsy performance by George Washington to win its race. In doing so, the varsity posted a time that was faster than all crews except winner Navy in the grand final that immediately followed the petite final. The varsity crew raced a new lineup consisting of Dennis O' Donnell, Matt Hallisey, Joe Krajewski, Rob McLane, Andrew Brown, Dave Rycyna, Tony Boyd, Eric Hilmo, and Tim Lepczyk.
The JV eight also raced hard but had a tough heat in which eventual winner and runner-up Navy and UVA finished one-two. The Georgetown boat consisted of cox Anna Cima, Drew Bradylyons, Jack Newcombe, Pat King, Max Reinke, Eric Pohlman, Jason Brill, Tom Farnoly, and Matt Sykes. The crew came back in the afternoon to defeat Marietta's second boat by over 10 seconds.
The men's novice 8 had a close heat in which it lost to eventual event winner St Joe's by only 0.6 seconds and edging out Marietta's novice eight. In the grand final, the eight finished 3rd to St. Joe's who bested the Navy crew by over 3 seconds.
