2009 Marietta College men's rowing preview
Young Pioneer Navy working toward Dad Vail Championship

By Krista Tkacz
March. 4, 2009
MARIETTA, Ohio — Building off a successful fall, the Marietta College men's rowing program expect to put together a strong lineup of boats throughout the 2009 season. Head Coach Chris Pucella and Assistant Coach Adam Cottrell are looking forward to their hopeful success on the water and, as always, they have the Dad Vail Rowing Championship on their mind.

All of the upperclassmen from the fall season have returned for the spring. The upperclassmen consist of senior Mitch Paskawych (Marietta), juniors Mike Flanagan (Absecon, N.J./Holy Spirit), Andrew Hazelrigg (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) and Steven Little (Seattle, Wash./Bishop Blanchet), as well as sophomores Daniel Bratton (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), Gregory Clair (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), Michael Cute (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), Thomas Dougherty (Lansdowne, Pa./Monsignor Bonner), Zach Mateja (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion), Zach McGurk (Alexandria, Va./Bishop O'Connell) and Devin Turley (Herndon, Va./Westfield). In addition, junior John Porter (Potomac, Md./Walt Whitman), who did not row in the fall, is back with the team.

"I'm very confident in our two team captains, Mike Flanagan and Tom Dougherty," Pucella said. "We have some good leadership on this team and a few guys who can really add some horsepower to the boat."

Cottrell will be coaching the freshman squad, which consists of 20 athletes, including three coxswains. While the freshmen lost one rower, they gained another this spring and managed to maintain the same amount of men from the fall. The freshmen are—Kendra Canter (Marietta), Ben Charley (Pittsburgh, Pa./Winchester Thurston), John Chester (Petersburg, N.J./Ocean City), Patrick Cleveland (New Canaan, Conn.), Sam Ellis (West Grove, Pa./St. Mark's), Richie Fredericks (Seaville, N.J./Ocean City), Jim Furl (Marietta), Robert Hune-Kalter (Marietta), James Inks (McDonald, Pa./Seton-La Salle), Charles Jordan (Bay Shore, N.J./St. Anthony's), Sean McKenna (Blue Bell, Pa./La Salle), Matt Newsome (Petersburg, N.J./Ocean City), Adam Null (Parkersburg, W.Va.), Drew Schulte (Parma/St. Ignatius), Tim Shields (Seaville, N.J./St. Augustine Prep.), Ethan Shoemaker (Westerville/North), James Smith (Atlantic City, N.J./Holy Spirit), Tyler Stay (Bethel Park, Pa.), Brian Timlin (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) and Steven Williamson (Moon Township, Pa./Central Catholic).

The freshmen plan to row two Freshmen 8+ shells up until the Dad Vail Regatta where they will be forced to split up the second freshman boat since only one F8+ from each school can be submitted for the Dad Vail Championship.

"We're planning to work off our momentum from the fall when we went undefeated against schools like the Naval Academy, Georgetown, George Washington, Delaware and Virginia," Cottrell said. "It's going to be really challenging to find the top eight men; I expect both boats to be competitive."

For the varsity, Pucella and the men have their work cut out for them in the Varsity 8+ category. The men will travel to Palm Bay, Fla., for spring break training and at the end of the week, they will race at the Mayor's Cup in Tampa, Fla. Jacksonville and Temple, among others, will join Marietta at the event. The men will be looking to win back the cup and take home the gold on March 28 at the Marietta/Purdue Challenge Cup in Indianapolis, Ind. On April 4, the men will compete against seven crews at the Marietta Invitational. Their main competition will Grand Valley State and they will be gearing up for victory at their only home race of the season. The men will then compete at the Knecht Cup in Camden, N.J., on April 10-11, the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championship in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on April 18-19 and the Indianapolis College Championship in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 25. The season will culminate against their highest level of competition at the Dad Vail Rowing Championship, which will take place May 8-9 in Philadelphia, Pa. The Pioneers are once again looking for a very successful outcome.

As for the freshmen, Cottrell's main focus of the season is to consistently work hard through spring break training and the racing season but trying not to expend too much energy before the Dad Vail.

"With the potential that we have with these men, we can afford not to train extremely hard until we get a little closer to the Dad Vail Regatta," Cottrell said. "We will be working hard through the whole season, and I'm confident we will still be successful."