Drexel Crew Wins Overall Point Title at Head of the Schuylkill Regatta

Saturday, October 30

Schuylkill River

Drexel University

Head of the Schuylkill Regatta

Drexel Crew Wins Overall Point Title at Head of the Schuylkill Regatta

10/30/2010 4:43:00 PM | Men's Rowing, Women's Rowing

Philadelphia, Pa. – Drexel men's and women's crew had a great showing today at The Head of the Schuylkill Regatta including four third-place finishes and two fourth-place finishes on a chilly morning on the familiar waters of the Schuylkill River. The Dragons claimed the over-all team title as well as the men's points trophy as race-day champs.

Getting off to an early start was the men's pair with Liam O'Neill and Peter Schmidt rowing in the Marlene Buckley boat finishing seventh of 12 with a time of 16:45.32, 28 seconds better than city rival Philadelphia University. The four-man shells hit the water next with the men's novice/freshmen four with coxswain Carolina Torres, stroke Ryan McSpedon, Matt Gibbons, Peter Rampulla and bow Ross Morris finishing 11 of 20 boats with a time of 17:29.14. The men's varsity four “A” with coxswain Justin Malley, stroke Dylan Siegfried, Nicholas Buyse, Kevin Rorabaugh and bow Peter Eyrich rowing in the School of Business boat crossed the line in a time of 15:51.72 while the varsity four “B” with coxswain Arlynn Kratz, Brennon Haydon, Scott Nordsiek, John Luciani and bow Adam Cordi finished in 16:17.23, good enough for 13 and 19 place respectively. The next event featured the women's varsity four “A” in the Sheller with coxswain Caitlin Meehen, stroke Jillian Skovran, Chloe Swansen, Marin McKinlay and bow Brogan Piecara finishing 12 of 34 with a time of 17:40.48 and the varsity four “B” with coxswain Mary Beth Geyer, stroke Amanda Dargay, Lillian Reed, Kathie Cheng racing in the Oxholm coming in 23 or 34 with a time of 18:20.12.

The men's and women's eight races followed. With one of the most impressive finishes on the day for Drexel coming in the men's freshmen eight rowing in the 1972 boat with coxswain Marc Smith, stroke Sebastian Ryan, Vanja Busic, John Pieper, Marcus DeMarici, Brent Basso, Steve Miner, Matt Ryan and bow Andrew Pope Starnes placing third out of 25 boats. Their time of 13:50.22 was 21 seconds and 50 seconds better than city rivals La Salle and Saint Joseph's respectively, falling only to Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania. The women's freshmen eight continued Drexel's success as coxswain Dana Piccoli, stroke Caitlin Buser, Jackie Bender, Adrianna Moreno, Julia Duffy, Leigh Anne Lougherty, Emily Barth, Danielle Soghoian and bow Jennifer Everitt crossed the line in the Greipp boat also in third with a time of 15:52.17 just over 10 second behind Trinity College in second.

The men's varsity eight with coxswain Steve Matyas, stroke Kurt Linton, Lorenzo Albala, Aleksander Radovic, Kyle Fabel, Brian Timlin, William Masters, Anthony Fitipaldi and bow Jacob Sloan crossed the line in the Empacher with a time of 14:03.54, good enough for a fourth-place finish out of 22 boats. Drexel also launched two alumni boats in the same event with times of 14:21.55 and 15:15.03 placing 10 and 19 respectively.

The women's second varsity eight with coxswain Drexel's Anne Marie boat with coxswain Kerry Walsh, stroke Shannon O'Donnell, Colleen Delaney, Kayla Wroblesky, Sloane Spurlock, Emily Fluharty, Alyssa Leahy, Sarah Mackenzie and bow Elizabeth Daugherty claimed Drexel's next third-place finish when they crossed the line in the Johny D boat with a time of 15:51.39. Also in this event was Alexandra Paulin, stroke Natasha Martines, Brooke Wertan, Taylor Mondak, Elise Panacek, Collen Owens, Samantha Cowan, Asiya Mahumud and bow Brianna Simmers which recorded a time of 17:50.4 and a finish of 18 out of 22 boats.

The varsity events continued as did Drexel's triumphs when the second varsity eight in the Greenwalt with coxswain Randall Lee, stroke Liam O'Neill, Michael Golden, Martin Khait, Gregg Francis, Ernesto Del Valle, Greg Pierce, Michael Faust and bow Peter Schmidt finished in third with a time of 13:32.04, behind only the Pennsylvania and New York Athletic Club boats.

The women's varsity eight capped the day with yet another outstanding performance for Drexel as the Marlene Buckley II with Mary Catherine Khella, stroke Liz Bratton, Dana Haneman, Julia Jackson, Emily Coyle, Juliana DeMarici, Alexa Antonioli, Casondra Clawson and bow Mollie Cusack crossed the line fourth of 22 with a time of 15:37.15, beating, among others, cross-city opponent Temple by more than 30 seconds.

Drexel crew returns to action Saturday, November 13 as they hit the water in the Frostbite Regatta on the Schuylkill River.