Victory in Varsity 4+ highlights Pioneer Navy’s day at season-opening Mayor’s Cup
Freshman 8 and a Freshmen 4 also medal with third place finishes

March 15, 2008
TAMPA, Fla. — The Marietta College men’s crew had five boats compete and took away three medals at the Mayor’s Cup, which took place Saturday (March 15) at the 1,500m course on the Seddon Channel. The Pioneer Navy won the Varsity 4+ and took third in the Freshmen 8+ and the Freshmen 4+ at its first competition of the spring, which helped the squad wrap up a week of training on Canal 54 in Palm Bay, Fla.

Temple won the Mayor’s Cup trophy after finishing with the most points between its men and women. Jacksonville was second and Yale, who only had its men, finished third. Marietta placed fourth among the ten schools at the competition.

Head coach Chris Pucella witnessed his Varsity 4 race to a title over six other boats on Saturday. The crew, which included junior stroke Mitch Paskawych (Marietta), sophomore Mike Flanagan (Absecon, N.J./Holy Spirit), sophomore Andrew Hazelrigg (Orlando, Fla./Olympia), sophomore bow John Porter (Potomac, Md./Walt Whitman) and sophomore coxswain Rita McCoy (Lansdowne, Pa./Archbishop Prendergast), finished in 5:01. Jacksonville had its “A” boat place second (5:09.) and its “B” boat take third (5:11). Emory, Central Florida, FIT and Stetson also competed in the event.

The Freshmen 8, coached by assistant JP Sekulich, featured stroke Niklas Von Kuczkowski (Hanover, Germany/Culver Military Academy), Daniel Bratton (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), Devin Turley (Herdon, Va./Westfield), Zach McGurk (Alexandria, Va./Bishop O'Connell), William Charlton (New Vernon, N.J./Berkshire), Zach Burgess (Ashland), Daniel Mills (Fairport, N.Y.), bow Nathan Capers (Orlando, Fla./Edgewater) and coxswain Thomas Dougherty (Lansdowne, Pa./Monsignor Bonner). These nine were the third to cross the line, finishing in 4:43. Yale and its boats take first (4:30) and second (4:38), respectively. FIT and Florida also had shells in the field.

Marietta also sent a pair of Freshmen 4 shells out on the water Saturday. Stroke Niklas Von Kuczkowski (Hanover, Germany/Culver Military Academy), Daniel Bratton (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), Daniel Mills (Fairport, N.Y.), bow Nathan Capers (Orlando, Fla./Edgewater) and coxswain Thomas Dougherty (Lansdowne, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) rowed to a third place finish, crossing the line in 5:07.5. Stroke Stephen Baranoski (Meriden, Conn./Xavier), Zach Mateja (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion), Gregory Clair (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), bow Michael Cute (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) and coxswain Kristina Markman (Columbia, Md./Atholton) placed sixth after finishing in 5:25. Again, Yale had two boats at the top of the results.

Finally, the Pioneer Navy combined athletes from its other boats and raced a Varsity 8, which took fourth in its heat and did not advance to the finals. The shell featured junior stroke Mitch Paskawych (Marietta), sophomore Mike Flanagan (Absecon, N.J./Holy Spirit), freshman Devin Turley (Herdon, Va./Westfield), freshman Zach McGurk (Alexandria, Va./Bishop O'Connell), sophomore Andrew Hazelrigg (Orlando, Fla./Olympia), junior Steven Little (Seattle, Wash./Bishop Blanchet), freshman William Charlton (New Vernon, N.J./Berkshire), sophomore bow John Porter (Potomac, Md./Walt Whitman) and freshman coxswain Thomas Dougherty (Lansdowne, Pa./Monsignor Bonner).

The Pioneers will return to action in two weeks when they host two different regattas. The Marietta Invitational will be held on Saturday (March 29) and the Marietta/Purdue Challenge Cup will take place on Sunday (March 30). Both take place on the Muskingum River.