Metropolitan Rowing Championships

 

UNITED STATES MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY

KINGS POINT ROWING

 

VARSITY ROWING SHOWS STRENGTH

New York Metropolitan Rowing Championships – April 25, 2010

Team results

 

The Kings Point Rowers experienced a mixture of success and disappointment at the Metropolitan Rowing Championships on Sunday. The Women’s Pair brought home a bronze, the Men’s Varsity showed its strength in the ‘Eights’ but  unfortunately the Men’s Novice squad was hampered by equipment failure and failed to qualify for the final. This competition was formed by group of local teams as a championship regatta amongst local Metropolitan New York teams, and eventually expanded to include sixteen teams from as far away as Albany and includes many Division I  teams.

 

On what was a rain-soaked morning with temperatures in the forties, the competing teams were required to report to the race site at 6:00 a.m. and start racing at 7:00 due to tidal restrictions. Despite having drawn the first race of the day, the King’s Point Women’s Pair of Anna Simons ‘12 and Kacey Rohloff ’12 were able to start the day with a bronze medal and nearly moved into the second position when Hofstra collided with the Kings Pointers just as they were about to move past 2^nd place Fairfield. Simons and Rohloff dominated the field at last year’s championship and had hoped to do the same this year.  “The pair really looked strong today but this was the first chance for Anna and Kacey to compete in the pair during this season.  They rowed well and I am hopeful that the remainder of the season will be successful and without incident”, said Coach Derek Hartwick following the race.  

 

The Men’s Varsity Eight continued to perform strongly as it has throughout the season. Having captured the Knecht Cup two weeks ago, the Kings Point crew of Coxswain David Wong ‘13, Stroke Steven Jones ‘10, Charles Waters ’10, Thomas Gambill ’12, Dustin Downing ’13, Connan Ingham ’12, Sam Diedrick ’10, Frank Osborne ’12, and Kyle O’Connor ’10 were hoping to repeat at this regatta. In the six crew final, the Kings Pointers met with strong opposition from Division I Fordham as well as Division I Army who captured second and Division I Iona College who finished third.  Kings Point was able to stay close for the first 500 meters but despite a strong stroke-rating by our rowing mariners, the Fordham crew was able to hold the lead to the finish.  The Kings Point Varsities were the top Division III team in the race.

 

The Men’s Freshman crew of Coxswain Greg Acker, Stroke Brendan Rohr ’13, 3- Garrett Poncin ’13, 2-Chris Murphy ’13, and Bow- Brad Wood started the race strongly but half way into the race Poncin experienced difficulty with the shoes that hold his feet in the boat. Despite having held a qualifying position throughout the race, they dropped back in the final 500 meters and failed to qualify for the final. The crew is comprised of mostly novice rowers except for Murphy who rowed in high school. Despite the incident, the crew performed very strongly amongst a mix of very experienced crews. Poncin commented “We were in good position until I lost my feet and I could hardly row; I just kept going.” Kings Point finished fourth with only three moving on to the final. 

 

 

 

 The team travels to Whitney Point, NY on April 30 to compete in the New York Rowing Championships. Coach Hartwick is optimistic about the team’s chances of doing well next week. “I think that it is really going to be a great weekend. We have been building momentum and I think that we’ll do well at the New York Championships.