Pioneers win three races on final day of Knecht Cup
Second Freshman/Novice 8+ posts two victories

April 11, 2009
CAMDEN, N.J. — The Marietta College men’s crew wrapped up its weekend at the 2009 Knecht Cup on the Cooper River Saturday (April 11) with wins in three different events at the 50-school competition, which featured crews from all over the country. [Results]

The Pioneers had three shells advance out of Friday (April 10) afternoon’s preliminary rounds and three more boats compete in final-only events on Saturday.

Marietta’s Second Freshman/Novice 8+, which featured stroke Steven Williamson (Moon Township, Pa./Central Catholic), James Smith (Atlantic City, N.J./Holy Spirit), Robert Hune-Kalter (Marietta), Brian Timlin (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley), Patrick Cleveland (New Canaan, Conn.), Jim Furl (Marietta), Charles Jordan (Bay Shore, N.J./St. Anthony's), bow John Chester (Petersburg, N.J./Ocean City) and coxswain Kendra Canter (Marietta), won a pair of final-only races to highlight the Pioneers’ performance at the Knecht Cup. The crew kicked off the morning with a 16-second victory in its own event. Marietta crossed the line in 7:13.4, while Bucknell (7:29.9) was second and Delaware (7:34.0) placed third. After a three and one-half hour break, the men returned to the water and won the D-II/D-III Freshman/Novice 8+ race by nearly one minute. The Pioneers covered the course in 6:31.0. Carnegie Mellon was second, finishing in 7:25.8, and Rochester placed third with a time of 13:13.7.

The Pioneer Navy’s primary Freshman/Novice 8+, which sat stroke Ethan Shoemaker (Westerville/North), Ben Charley (Pittsburgh, Pa./Winchester Thurston), Richie Fredericks (Seaville, N.J./Ocean City), Sean McKenna (Blue Bell, Pa./La Salle), Drew Schulte (Parma/St. Ignatius), Matt Newsome (Petersburg, N.J./Ocean City), Tim Shields (Seaville, N.J./St. Augustine Prep.), bow James Inks (McDonald, Pa./Seton-La Salle) and coxswain Tyler Stay (Bethel Park, Pa.), competed in the Petite Final after taking second in Friday’s heat and fifth in the afternoon semifinal. Marietta (4:40.1) was able to narrowly beat Delaware (4:41.0) to the line in the Petite Final to secure the team’s third victory of the day.

Marietta’s Second Varsity 4+, which featured junior Steven Little (Seattle, Wash./Bishop Blanchet), sophomore Zach Mateja (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion), sophomore Gregory Clair (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), sophomore bow Michael Cute (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) and coxswain Canter, finished runner-up in its final-only event after crossing the line in 8:19.3.

The Pioneers’ Freshman/Novice 4+ took bronze in its Grand Final race on Saturday. Stroke Shoemaker, Charley, bow Newsome and coxswain Stay finished with a time of 8:00.3, behind champion Colgate (7:45.3) and second place Philadelphia (7:48.4).

Marietta’s Second Varsity 8+ closed out the team’s day with a sixth place finish in its Grand Final. Stroke Williamson, Furl, Little, Timlin, Cleveland, Mateja, Clair, bow Cute and coxswain Canter rowed a time of 7:13.0. Temple won the race after crossing the line in 6:41.6, while St. Joseph’s placed second with a time of 6:47.0.

The Pioneers are back in action next weekend (April 18-19) when they compete at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championship in Oak Ridge, Tenn.