Marietta Rowing kicks off season at Ohio Valley Indoor Rowing Championship
Turley and Chuderewicz win 2009 Hammer Awards

By Krista Tkacz
Feb. 7, 2009
MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College men's and women's rowing programs kicked off their spring season on Saturday (Feb. 7) with the Ohio Valley Indoor Rowing Championship. Organized and planned by Assistant Men's Coach Adam Cottrell, it was the first official 2,000-meter erg race of the season.

The morning consisted of racing of local high school students from Marietta High School, Parkersburg South High School and Parkersburg High School. The afternoon consisted of racing at the collegiate level with Marietta College's men and women and West Virginia University's men, plus the coaches/masters race and coxswain race. The rowers were separated into categories based on their gender, their lightweight or heavyweight status and whether or not they were a freshman/novice or varsity rower.

Among the men, the Hammer Award, an award given to the rower who pulls the fastest time of the day, was won by sophomore Devin Turley (Herndon, Va./Westfield). He took first with a time of 6:18.8. When he realized he had broken 6:20 for the first time, he said, "It felt great. It really showed that the extra work I've been putting in before practice has been paying off, and I plan to break 6:10 or better by the end of the season."

Turley was followed by sophomore Zach McGurk (Alexandria, Va./Bishop O'Connell), who pulled 6:23.5. Junior Mike Flanagan (Absecon, N.J./Holy Spirit), a lightweight, came in third with a time of 6:27.2.

"Assistant Coach Adam and I are pleased with the results from the erg race," Head Men's Coach Chris Pucella said. "Eight of our top ten freshmen broke their personal bests while five varsity men did the same."

On the women's side, the Hammer Award went to senior Amanda Chuderewicz (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler Area) for the second year in a row. Chuderewicz took first with a time of 7:33.1.

"It's a really great honor to win the hammer two years in a row," Chuderewicz said. "I'm really excited for the season because we have a lot of potential and I wanted to prove to my team that I was in for the long haul."

Chuderewicz was quickly followed by freshman Elizabeth Bratton (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Basil Academy) with a time of 7:34.2. Freshman Kelli Barnette (Parkersburg, W.Va./South) took third place with a time of 7:37.6.

Head Women's Coach Kelly Harris was impressed by Chuderewicz's hard work over the winter training season. "Amanda was only five seconds away from her personal best score at the first race of the season. It truly is a testimony to how hard she must have worked in the off season and it's great to see that she was able to win the Hammer Award two years in a row."

The Pioneer Navy is looking forward to its upcoming spring break trip, which begins on March 6 in Palm Bay, Fla. Marietta will then have its first on-the-water race at the Mayor's Cup in Tampa, Fla. on March 14.

Raffle Winners:
1st place $250 - Tyler Stay
2nd Place $150 - Ethan Shoemaker
3rd place $100 - Zach Mateja
4th place team sweatshirt - Michael Flanagan, Katherine Thomas, Sam Ellis, and Dan Bratton