Lightweight Men Fall to Top-Ranked Navy
April 17, 2004
The Hoyas continued their spring racing season against Navy on April 17, but fell to the #1 ranked Midshipmen on the Severn River in Annapolis.
The weather was on the warm side for the first time in a week, but a combination of wind and pleasure boats (it being the first day of striped bass season, incidentally) led to rougher conditions in the second thousand meters. Due to the regular chop on the Severn River, the races are held early and the first race of the day was the varsity event. The slow start that plagued Georgetown at Princeton earlier in the spring came back for seconds, leaving the Hoyas down nearly a length as they passed the 500m mark. The Hoyas were able to settle into a strong and aggressive rhythm, hoping to be able to come back into Navy on their moves. However, as the race continued the water became less conducive to clean rowing and effective attacks. Navy handled the wakes better than Georgetown, and the Middies were able to slowly extend their lead. Ultimately, the Hoyas crossed the line nearly five and a half seconds in arrears.
“It’s frustrating; to row the way we did today, but you do have to give credit to Navy; they rowed a great race and were very calm in the messy conditions.” said captain Andrew Lechleiter (C ‘04). The line-up, from bow to stern, of the Varsity was Jack Pfeiffer (C '06), Geoff Mikelsons (B '04), Blair Berbert (B '05), Kyler Willet (C '06), Brad Kuntsher (C '05), Lechleiter (C '04), James O'Gara (B '05), Cameron Booth (C '05), and coxswain Lousia Seferis (F '05).
The Second Varsity race mirrored the Varsity race, as Georgetown found themselves in a hole early on. Disappointingly, they were never able to relax enough to establish a strong rhythm and floundered in the middle of the race before regrouping and finishing with a strong sprint. From bow to stern, the line-up of the 2V was Dave Hansen (B '06), Chris Fawal (C '06), Jan Halaska (C '06), Will Sheridan (C '04), Tony Leotti (C '04), Leeds Nudd (C '06), Kyle Hatton (C '05), John Fenwick (B '05), and coxswain Nick Marinakis (F '06).
The Freshman and Second Freshman boats raced in the last two events of the day. Both crews finished behind Navy’s respective crews, but felt a marked improvement upon their earlier loss to Princeton. The line-up, from bow to stern, of the 1F was Andrew Harried (C '07), Ralph Crowley (B '07), Connor Schillerstrom (F '07), Patrick Sheridan (C '07), John McGroarty (C '07), Michael Dorff (C '07), Michael McGrath (F '07), James Curley (B '07), and coxswain Christopher Moore (B '07) and of the 2F was Pierre Maitre (B '07), Paul Elliot (C '07), Nate Ro (B '07), Jonathon Olbrych (N '07), Dominik Peisl (B '07), Matt Kamenski (C '07), Tom Byrnes (B '07), Brendan Sullivan (C '07), Michael Manuccia (C '07).
Georgetown returns to racing next weekend with a doubleheader. Saturday,
they will rematch against Princeton, alongside the University of Pennsylvania,
while Sunday will see them racing Harvard, Boston College, and the University
of Delaware, an underdog Grand Finalist at the IRA National Championship
last year. This will likely be the last race weekend for Georgetown before
the Eastern Sprints on May 16th, so all the crews will be looking for
an excellent result to bookend their regular season.
