Pioneer Navy looking to repeat at Dad Vails this weekend
Varsity Eight is seeded second in 32-boat field

May 8, 2007
MARIETTA, Ohio — The Pioneer Navy's Varsity Eight is looking to rekindle some fond memories by making some history of its own this weekend (May 11-12) at the 69th annual Dad Vail Rowing Championships on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa.

Marietta enters as the reigning gold medallist in the featured event of the regatta. After finishing with a bronze medal from 2002-05, the Pioneers defeated the field by over six seconds to secure the fifth Dad Vail gold in school history in 2006. Marietta won the inaugural race in 1934 and had victories in 1963, 1966 and 1967.

This spring marks the 40th anniversary of the 1967 crew, which achieved the goal that the 2007 team will attempt to accomplish, when the crew successfully defended its 1966 gold medal at Dad Vails. Members of the 1967 shell will highlight a huge gathering that will be in Philadelphia to cheer on the team. The last school, besides Temple, to defend its title was the Coast Guard in 1978-79.

Head Coach Chris Pucella, who is in his second season with Marietta College, has prepared his squad for the challenge, concentrating on conditioning, drills and fundamentals—all necessary if they want to retain the gold at the prestigious event. Marietta is one of only two schools, Manhattan being the other, to bring crews to each of the past 68 races.

Marietta's Varsity Eight will feature senior Zach Stimart (McLean, Va.) at bow with sophomore Mitch Paskawych (Marietta) in seat two, senior Chase Graham (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Parkersburg South) in seat three, senior Jon Carlon (Winter Park, Fla.) 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. Marietta has six of the nine rowers back from the 2006 Varsity Eight. 2007 will be the final Dad Vail for six of the rowers. The Pioneers enter as the No. 2 seed behind Temple. Purdue is seeded third, while the Florida Institute of Technology is fourth and Jacksonville fifth. 

There are 32 entries into the Varsity Eight and six heats. The top two of each heat advances to the semifinals, with the last eliminated and the rest advancing to the repechages.

The Pioneers will face Maryland, St. Joseph, Minnesota, George Mason and Rhode Island in their opening heat Friday at 10:28 a.m.

"We are currently back in the Resolute 8+ for the first time this season," said Pucella. "I believe that the crew has picked up some significant speed in the last two weeks. Some of that is evident from the six-second victory over Purdue in Indy two weeks ago. However, I think we have gained even more speed since that race."

The Junior Varsity Eight, which features freshman Mike Cress (Ventnor, N.J./Holy Spirit) at bow, sophomore Austin McIntire (Parkersburg, W. Va./South) 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 Matt Wilson (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop) in seat six, freshman Mike Flanagan (Absecan, N.J./Holy Spirit) in seat seven, freshman Andrew Hazelrigg (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) at stroke and freshman Rita McCoy (Lansdowne, Pa./Archbishop Prendergast) at coxswain, will also compete at Dad Vails.

"The JV8+ certainly drew a tough heat, although none of the three heats strike me as particularly easy," said Assistant Coach JP Sekulich. "We'll have to approach the heat as if it were the final."

The Junior Varsity field consists of 13 boats. There will be three heats with the top two of each advancing to Saturday's final. Marietta is slated to race St. Joseph, Jacksonville and Lehigh in the second heat of the day at 4:17 p.m.

"We have not yet raced against Lehigh, while Jacksonville and St. Joe's were a bit out of our reach at the SIRA regatta," said Sekulich. However, I don't think we were quite racing to our potential. We have had some solid preparation and demonstrated good top-end speed in practice last week. The guys are recovering nicely from the early-season volume. All of the components are in place for a strong performance this weekend. I think Temple is picked to be the favorite, but the race for the medals should be very tightly contested."

The Dad Vail Regatta is the largest collegiate regatta in the United States, with over 100 colleges and Universities from the U.S. and Canada. Thousands of student- athletes visit the city of Philadelphia during the weekend of the second Saturday of May.