Marietta College's Varsity Eight finishes fourth at Dad Vails
Purdue takes title in very close race

May 12, 2007
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The Marietta College Varsity Eight suffered a disappointing end to the the 69th annual Dad Vail Rowing Championships Saturday (May 12) on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa. Despite a solid effort, the 2006 champion Pioneer Navy placed fourth in the Grand Final.

Purdue took home the gold medal in one of the tightest races in recent history. The Boilermakers took the lead off the line and never relinquished it en route to winning the race with a time of 5:42.59. Temple (5:44.83) took second and Florida Tech (5:46.19) placed third. Marietta (5:47.88) was fourth with Jacksonville (5:51.39) taking fifth and Army (5:55.56) finishing sixth.

"The men rowed an excellent race," said Head Coach Chris Pucella. "They are devastated by their placement but definitely not by their effort. We were never out of contention. It looked as if the shell was going to walk through FIT and Temple and give Purdue a run for its money over the last 800 meters but it just didn't happen. We commend Purdue for a great race."

Marietta's Varsity Eight featured 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.

The Pioneer Navy, who also won their opening round heat on Friday, reached the finals with the fastest semifinal time out of all the competitors. Marietta crossed the line in 5:43.09. Army (5:44.11) was second in the race with Lehigh (5:50.46) taking third.

Marietta is a five-time champion at Dad Vails, winning the inaugural race in 1934 to go along with victories in 1963, 1966, 1967 and 2006.

The Junior Varsity Eight, which featured 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, had its season come to an end on day one of Dad Vails. The Pioneers took fourth place in their opening heat, crossing the line in 6:31.97. Lehigh won the heat with a time of 6:14.98. Jacksonville (6:19.85) was second and St. Joseph placed third.

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.

Marietta will return home to continue its training as it awaits word on whether or not the Varsity Eight will get a bid to the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta, which will be held May 31 - June 2 in Camden, N.J.