Varsity Eight and Varsity Pair take second place at SIRAs
Varsity four places fourth, while F/N Four takes 10th

Apr. 15, 2006
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Pioneer Navy capped off a solid weekend of rowing at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship (SIRAs) on Melton Hill Lake Saturday (Apr. 15) afternoon.

Marietta, under the leadership of first-year Head Coach Chris Pucella, brought home two second-place trophies, as well as a fourth place and tenth place finish from the event, which is the second biggest sprint race in the country.

Illness forced coach Pucella to rearrange his lineups for the weekend. The changes resulted in the JV Eight boat being broken up into a Varsity Pair and a Varsity Four shell. MC also had a Freshmen/Novice Four shell and a realigned Varsity Eight boat.

The Varsity Eight, which sat from bow Zach Stimart, Evan Tsourtsoulas, Chase Graham, John Carlon, Karl Biermann, Mike Ross, Eric Dowler, stroke Chuck Geyer and coxswain Tim Rinehart, went head-to-head with rival Virginia in the Grand Final. The Cavaliers (6:00.0), who fell to the Pioneers a week ago, won this battle to claim first place. Marietta (6:02.0) finished second. Both boats crossed the line with open water on the rest of the field. Jacksonville (Fla.) (6:06.0), who is coached by MC graduate Rob Johnson, placed third.

The Varsity Pair, which included freshmen Mitch Paskawych and Austin McIntire, almost pulled out the victory in its Grand Final. Marietta led for 1,700 meters, only for an experienced Washington (Mo.) pair to out-sprint it at the finish to steal the victory. Overall, the Pioneers finished 1.5 seconds behind the Bears.

Marietta's Varsity Four, which included Steve Wynne, Brent Keuch, Justin Callahan, Devan Whitney and coxswain Sarah Kozusko, had a poor start, something very common in rowing when a boat hasn't practiced together, but fought back to take fourth place in the Grand Final. The Pioneers finished two seconds away from medalling. Georgia Tech, Georgia and North Carolina (led by MC graduate Joe Palmer) finished 1-2-3. The Pioneers faced top competition in the race, as every other Varsity Four included the school's top four rowers.

The Freshmen/Novice Four, which featured Craig Ripiski, Nick Brown, Joe Linke, Brian Casto and coxswain Lydia Easterling, finished fourth in the Petite Final and took 10th overall in its event.

"The men really put everything on the line today and came out of the water satisfied after each race," Pucella said. "The Varsity Eight was a great race. With our boat changes, Virginia was clearly stronger this weekend, but we held our own. We are really looking forward to having a couple good weeks of practice before we return to racing."

Marietta will make that return on May 13-14, when it competes at Dad Vails in Philadelphia (Pa.).