Pioneer Navy's F/N 4+ wins gold at MACRAs
Marietta defeated Ohio State in Grand Final

May 3, 2008
ATHENS, Ohio — The Marietta College men’s crew had its Freshmen/Novice 4+ shell win the Mid-America Rowing Association (MACRA) Championship on Saturday (May 3) afternoon on Dow Lake. The Pioneer Navy sent just one shell to the race, which used to be annual event on the schedule.

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Pioneer Navy wins two gold medals and a bronze at Indianapolis Invite
Marietta's F/N 4+ and V 4+ both pick up victories on Saturday

April 26, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Marietta College men’s crew had its final tune-up before the year-end Dad Vail Rowing Championship when the team traveled to the Indianapolis Invitational on Saturday (April 26) afternoon, which took place on Eagle Creek. The Pioneer Navy competed in three events and took a pair of first place finishes as well as a third place finish to give it great momentum heading into Dad Vails

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Pioneer Navy's Varsity 4+ wins silver medal at SIRA Championship
Marietta's F/N 4+ and F/N 8+ compete in Petite Finals

April 20, 2008
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Pioneer Navy’s Varsity 4+ earned a silver medal to highlight the crew’s performance at this weekend’s (April 19-20) 41st annual Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championship on Melton Hill Lake. In addition to the silver medal, Marietta won the Petite Final in the Freshmen/Novice 4+ and took 10th in the Freshmen/Novice 8+.

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) teamed up once again to row the Varsity 4+. The shell opened the competition on Saturday with a first place finish in its heat, rowing a 7:23.00; Central Florida (7:28.44) took runner-up.

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Marietta men win two bronze medals at Knecht Cup
Pioneer Navy takes third in F/N 4+ and v4+ events

April 13, 2008
CAMDEN, N.J. — The Marietta College men's crew wrapped up its weekend at the Knecht Cup with a pair of bronze medalists among its four shells that competed in Sunday (April 13) morning's finals on the Cooper River. The Pioneers' Freshmen/Novice 4+ and Varsity 4+ both finished third in the 50-school competition, which featured crews from all over the country.

The Pioneer Navy opened the morning with its Freshman/Novice 4+, which had a boat in both the Petite Final and Grand FInal. Marietta's "A" boat, which featured bow Daniel Bratton (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), Niklas Von Kuczkowski (Hanover, Germany/Culver Military Academy), Zach McGurk (Alexandria, Va./Bishop O'Connell), stroke Devin Turley (Herdon, Va./Westfield) and coxswain Thomas Dougherty (Lansdowne, Pa./Monsignor Bonner), won its opening heat and then took second in the semifinal to advance to the Grand Final. There, Marietta rowed its way to third place finish, crossing the line in 7:00.3. Colgate (6:49.6) won the race, while Temple (6:53.7) took runner-up.

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Pioneer Navy sends fours shells to a final at Knecht Cup
Marietta's V4+, F/N 4+ and F/N8+ will compete in Grand Final

April 12, 2008
CAMDEN, N.J. — The Pioneer Navy sent its fleet to the annual Knecht Cup on the Cooper River Saturday (April 12) afternoon for the first day of the two-day event. Marietta College entered five boats into the 50-school competition, which featured crews from all over the country. The young Pioneers rowed well and will have the Freshmen/Novice 8+, Varsity 4+ and a Freshman/Novice 4+ in the Grand Finals, as well as a second Freshmen/Novice 4+ compete in the Petite Finals on Sunday (April 13) morning.

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Pioneer Navy splits with rival Purdue
Boilermakers retain Challenge Cup with win in the Varsity 8+

March 30, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta Head Coach Chris Pucella knew that coming into Sunday (March 30) afternoon's 53rd annual Challenge Cup that his boats would have to perform well to challenge annual rival Purdue. His team managed to split with the Boilermakers with the Pioneers winning the Novice 8+ and finishing second in the Varsity 8+.

The Novice 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). The shell led the entire 2,000m and crossed the finish line 3.6 seconds before Purdue. Marietta finished in 4:45.41, while Purdue came in with a time of 4:49.04.

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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.

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2008 Pioneer Navy preview
Marietta looking to build foundation with youth-dominated squad

March 4, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — The goals for 2008 Marietta College men's rowing program remain the same as years past. The Pioneers will have Dad Vail gold on the mind each time they take the water. However, the Pioneer Navy will attempt to achieve them with a modified boat lineup due to its youth-dominated roster.

"The focus for the team this season has been to build a solid foundation from the bottom up," said third-year coach Chris Pucella. "Currently we have 15 freshmen (two are coxswains) as well as six returning athletes (five sophomores and one junior). We will be rowing both a Freshmen 8+ and Freshmen 4+ as well as a Varsity Heavyweight 4+ this spring, and I would expect all three boats to be pushing for medals the whole season."

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Ohio Valley Indoor Rowing Championships held at Marietta College
Niklas Von Kuczkowski wins "Hammer Award" in men's collegiate division

Feb. 9, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — The 15th annual Ohio Valley Indoor Rowing Championships were held Saturday (Feb. 9) afternoon on the campus of Marietta College.

Over 115 athletes, representing high school and college divisions, crowded the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center for the event, which was rowed on ergometers and uses a sophisticated computer timing system.

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Marietta alum Jim Metcalf donates $35,000 for new racing shell
Gift will go into crew endowment until Pioneer Navy needs a new eight-man boat

Dec. 4, 2007
MARIETTA, Ohio — Thanks to the generosity of 1979 Marietta College graduate Jim Metcalf, the next time that the Pioneer Navy needs to update its fleet it will have the funds to do so. Metcalf recently donated $35,000 to the crew endowment to be used for the future purchase of new eight-man racing shell.

"Jim understands the equipment needs of a successful crew program and has been very generous in making sure that Marietta College is one of the best outfitted crews at the Dad Vail level," said third-year Head Coach Chris Pucella. "The team appreciates Jim’s continued support of the Pioneer Navy."

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Pioneer Navy retains Braxton Cup for fourth straight year
Marietta wins three of five races on final competition of the fall

Nov. 11, 2007
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The Marietta College men's crew closed out its weekend trip to the Schuylkill River and its fall season with five solid races at the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta. The Pioneer Navy won three of the events, including the featured Lightweight 8+ race.

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 8+, in which Braxton rowed bow seat, finished second in the Dad Vail Regatta. The following year, with Braxton rowing seven seat, the Marietta lightweight 8+ went undefeated during the season and won the Dad Vail championship. Braxton was killed later that summer in an auto accident.

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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.

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Marietta crew wins Freshman Novice 8+ at Head of the Hooch
Pioneer Navy closes the fall season this weekend at the Frostbite and Bill Braxton regattas

Nov. 3, 2007
CHATANOOGA, Tenn. — The Pioneer Navy's Freshman 8 made the most of its opportunity to compete in Saturday (Nov. 3) afternoon's Head of the Hooch on the Tennessee River. The shell, which received late notice of an available slot in the Freshman Novice 8+ event, dominated its competition en route to a first place finish.

Marietta's boat, which featured coxswain Tom Dougherty, stroke Niklas von Kuczkowski, Nathan Capers, Devin Turley, Zach McGurt, William Charlton, Dan Bratton, Daniel Mills and bow Zach Mateja, had its first chance to face outside competition at the 5,000 meter head race on the Tennessee River, which ended at Ross’s Landing Park.

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Pioneer Navy opens fall season at Head of the Genesee
Marietta races a lightweight and heavyweight 4+ at the event

Oct. 7, 2007
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Marietta College men's crew opened its 2007 fall season Sunday (Oct. 7) by competing at the 19th annual Head of the Genesee Invitational Regatta in Genesee Valley Park. The event, which was co-hosted by the University of Rochester (N.Y.) and Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.), featured over 30 collegiate teams from the Northeast United States and Canada. The Pioneer Navy entered to boats in the Open 4+, a lightweight shell and a heavyweight shell.

The Head of the Genesee, formerly know as the Stonehurst Invitational, draws top competition due to its unique regatta format. In the morning, crews competed over a three-mile headrace course. In the afternoon, crews were paired based on their headrace results, for a 1,500-meter sprint race. A formula helped determine the final placement of each boat.

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Marietta College alum Bolton helps U.S. qualify for 2008 Olympics
Three former Pioneers compete well at World Championships

Sept. 7, 2007
MUNICH, Germany — Marietta College graduate Andrew Bolton (Old Lyme, Conn.) is one step closer to experiencing every amateur athlete's dream of competing on the world's biggest stage—the Olympic Games. He earned that opportunity based on his performance at the 2007 World Rowing Championships, which took place on the Munich Olympic Regatta Course Aug. 26-Sept. 2.

During the World Championships, the United States of America qualified 11 boats for the 2008 Olympic Games, to be hosted by Beijing, China. It was the second most of any country.

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Marietta College rowers find summer success on the water
Pioneer Navy past and present represent programs well on national and international stages

Aug. 14, 2007
MARIETTA, Ohio — While most Marietta College senior student-athletes dispersed after graduation, Pioneer rowers Chuck Geyer '07and Chase Graham '07 remained on campus. Under the guidance of Head Coach Chris Pucella, the duo extended their training in order to compete in both the 2007 USRowing Club National Championships and the 125th Royal Canadian Henley. The regattas are two of the largest events in North America during the summer.

Geyer and Graham, champions of Marietta's 2006 House of Wines Pair Championship, first entered the Men's Intermediate 2- competition at the USRowing Club National Championships July 18-21 on the Copper River in Camden, N.J. The former Pioneers swept the event, winning its opening heat (7:03.80), semifinal (6:55.20) and final (6:48.72) to capture the gold medal.

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Tsourtsoulas wins gold at World Rowing Under 23 Championships
Evan Tsourtsoulas member of Greek National Team

Aug. 2, 2007
STRATHCLYDE, Scotland — Former Marietta College rower Evan Tsourtsoulas (Kastoria, Greece) came one step closer to representing the Pioneer Navy at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, this past weekend (July 29) when he helped his native Greece win the gold in the Senior B Lightweight Men's 4 (BLM4-) at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships.

Tsourtsoulas, a citizen of both Greece and the United States, bypassed his senior season with Marietta to chase his dream of rowing in the Olympics.

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Marietta College's Varsity Eight finishes fourth at Dad Vails
Purdue takes title in very close race

May 12, 2007
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The Marietta College Varsity Eight suffered a disappointing end to the the 69th annual Dad Vail Rowing Championships Saturday (May 12) on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa. Despite a solid effort, the 2006 champion Pioneer Navy placed fourth in the Grand Final.

Purdue took home the gold medal in one of the tightest races in recent history. The Boilermakers took the lead off the line and never relinquished it en route to winning the race with a time of 5:42.59. Temple (5:44.83) took second and Florida Tech (5:46.19) placed third.

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