Pioneer Navy wraps up weekend at George Washington Invitational
Marietta will scrimmage Drexel at home Saturday

Apr. 7, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Pioneer Navy capped off its visit to the nation's capital Saturday (Apr. 7) by competing in day two of the 20th annual George Washington Invitational on the Potomac River.

Marietta's Varsity Eight, which featured senior Zach Stimart (McLean, Va.) at bow, senior Jon Carlon (Winter Park, Fla.) in seat two, senior Chase Graham (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Parkersburg South) in seat three, sophomore Mitch Paskawych (Marietta) in seat four, sophomore Andrew Norris (Dublin/Dublin Scioto) in seat five, senior Mike Ross (Fairport, N.Y.) in seat six, senior Eric Dowler (Washington, W.Va./Parkersburg South) in seat seven, senior Chuck Geyer (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) at stroke and sophomore Lydia Easterling (Tallmadge) at coxswain, rowed twice on Saturday. The Pioneers (5:42.7) defeated the Florida Institute of Technology (5:51.3) in the morning. In the afternoon, Marietta (5:40) fell to Michigan (5:30.3) and Cornell (5:34.8).

"I think that the Varsity Eight progressed nicely throughout the weekend," said Head Coach Chris Pucella. "We got our first weekend of good racing, and it gave us an idea of where we stand. We have two weeks to continue our improvement before the SIRAs, and I expect to see a much faster boat then."

Marietta's Junior Varsity Eight, which featured freshman Mike Cress (Ventnor, N.J./Holy Spirit) at bow, sophomore Craig Ripski (Claymont, DE/Concord) in seat two, freshman Steven Little (Seattle, Wash./Bishop Blanchet) in seat three, freshman John Porter (Potomac, Md./Walk Whitman) in seat four, freshman Kevin Wessler (Port Republic, N.J./Holy Spirit) in seat five, freshman Andrew Hazelrigg (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) in seat six, freshman Mike Flanagan (Absecan, N.J./Holy Spirit) in seat seven, sophomore Austin McIntire (Parkersburg, W. Va./South) at stroke and freshman Rita McCoy (Lansdowne, Pa./Archbishop Prendergast) at coxswain, rowed against Michigan and Georgetown in its first race of the day. The Hoyas (5:47.9) won the race, while the Wolverines (5:59.2) and Pioneers (6:07.6) followed. In the Junior Varsity's second race Saturday, it finished with a time of 6:10.1, falling to George Washington (5:54.2) and St. Joseph's (6:02.1).

Marietta will officially take a week off but has a home scrimmage against Drexel slated for Saturday (Apr. 14). The Pioneers will then make its way to Oak Ridge, Tenn., for the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships the following Friday (Apr. 20) and Saturday (Apr. 21).