Pioneer Navy wins two lightweight races at Frostbite Regatta
Marietta will close out fall season Sunday at Bill Braxton Regatta

Nov. 10, 2007
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The Marietta College men's crew took to the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa., for the Frostbite Regatta, on Saturday (Nov. 10) afternoon. The Pioneer Navy, which entered four boats into the competition, came away with a pair of victories to go along with two runner-up finishes.

Marietta's freshman 4+ opened the team's day with a second place finish in its event. The shell, which featured, bow Mike Cute, Zach Burgess, Greg Clair, stroke Steve Baranowski and coxswain Kristina Markman, got off to a slow start but bounced back to finish in 6:42.78. Philadelphia won the race in 6:36.16, while St. Joseph's took third, crossing the line in 6:55.32.

The Pioneers' lightweight 4+, which included bow Mike Flanagan, Jon Carlon, Andy Hazelrigg, stroke Mitch Paskawych and coxswain Rita McCoy, was the next to compete. The crew cruised to a 10-second victory over its nearest competitor. Marietta crossed the line in 6:53.7. Lafayette (7:03.4) took second and Ithaca (7:13.0) was third.

Marietta's freshman 8+, which featured coxswain Tom Dougherty, stroke Niklas von Kuczkowski, Nathan Capers, Devin Turley, Zach McGurk, William Charlton, Dan Bratton, Dan Mills and bow Zach Mateja, looked for its second victory in as many weeks after winning the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Pioneers overcame some early excitement, which had them fast on their slide, to place second behind Delaware. The Blue Hens finished the race in 6:14.15, while the Pioneers were right behind in 6:16.44. St. Joseph's took third, finishing in 6:24.77, while Temple (6:27.34) was fourth.

The Pioneer Navy's lightweight 8+ closed out the competition for Marietta with a four-second victory in its race. The shell, which included Cute at bow, John Porter, Capers, Carlon, Dan Mills, Paskawych, Flanagan, Hazelrigg at stroke and McCoy at coxswain, rowed to a finish of 6:11.96. Pennsylvania (6:15.26) was second and Lafayette (6:43.03) was third.

"Coach JP Sekulich and I are pretty satisfied with our team's effort today," Head Coach Chris Pucella said. "Each boat has some things to work on though. Everyone is looking forward to correcting those mistakes and putting forward great races on Sunday to close out the fall season."

Marietta will end its fall season Sunday (Nov. 11) at the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta. The last regatta of the fall season on the Schuylkill, the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta was founded by the Braxton family and friends to honor the memory of Bill Braxton, Jr., a popular and highly-motivated lightweight rower that attended Marietta College. In 1972, the Marietta Lightweight Eight, in which Braxton rowed bow seat, finished second in the Dad Vail Regatta. The following year, with Braxton rowing seven seat, the Marietta Lightweight Eight went undefeated during the season and won the Dad Vail championship. Braxton was killed later that summer in an auto accident.

The Braxton Regatta, originally sponsored by Crescent Boat Club, moved to the Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club in the 1980s. The Braxton family and many of Bill Jr.'s friends remain involved in the regatta to this day.