Marietta's Freshmen/Novice 8+ wins bronze medal at Dad Vail Rowing Championship
Varsity 8+ ends its season with sixth place finish in semifinal

May 9, 2009
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The Marietta College men's crew won a bronze medal in the Freshmen/Novice 8+ to highlight its performance at the 71st annual Dad Vail Rowing Championship Saturday (May 10) afternoon on the Schuylkill River. [Results]

Marietta’s Freshmen/Novice 8+, which featured stroke Patrick Cleveland (New Canaan, Conn.), Jim Furl (Marietta), Ethan Shoemaker (Westerville/North), Ben Charley (Pittsburgh, Pa./Winchester Thurston), Richie Fredericks (Seaville, N.J./Ocean City), Brian Timlin (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley), Drew Schulte (Parma/St. Ignatius), bow Matt Newsome (Petersburg, N.J./Ocean City) and coxswain Sam Ellis (West Grove, Pa./St. Mark’s) began the day with a second place finish in its semifinal race. Drexel won the race in 6:07.928, while Marietta followed it across the line in 6:12.626. The Pioneers' finish enabled them to advance to the six-boat Grand Final, named the Lev Brett Bowl. In the final, Michigan was the first to cross the finish; the Wolverines rowed a time of 6:30.932. Delaware placed second with a time of 6:35.758, while Marietta took third with a time of 6:39.795.

The Varsity 8+ also competed in one of three semifinals Saturday morning. Sophomore stroke Devin Turley (Herndon, Va./Westfield), junior Mike Flanagan (Absecon, N.J./Holy Spirit), freshman Steven Williamson (Moon Township, Pa./Central Catholic), sophomore Zach McGurk (Alexandria, Va./Bishop O'Connell), junior Steven Little (Seattle, Wash./Bishop Blanchet), sophomore Daniel Bratton (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), junior Andrew Hazelrigg (Orlando, Fla./Olympia), junior bow John Porter (Potomac, Md./Walt Whitman) and sophomore coxswain Thomas Dougherty (Lansdowne, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) crossed the line in 5:54.696, which placed them sixth. As a result, the Pioneers did not advance to either the Petite Final or Grand Final.