Written by Jamie Francis, Assistant Rowing Coach

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Mercyhurst University men's and women's rowing teams had several historic results at the Head of the Genesee over the weekend that resulted in three gold medals and one silver medal finish - the first 1-2 finish in the Men's Collegiate Eight; the second gold medal in the Men's Collegiate Eight; the first gold medal in the Women's Collegiate Eight; and the first gold medal in the Men's Open Four.

Strong winds on the Genesee River forced race organizers to move the regatta to the Erie Canal, which shortened the race course to approximately 4,400 meters.  The men's eights raced first, with the Mercyhurst A entry completing the course with a winning time of 14:15, followed by the Mercyhurst B entry that finished with a time of 14:27.  Ithaca College rounded out the medals with a time of 14:35.

The women's eights were next down the course, with similar results from the Lakers.  With a time of 16:03, Mercyhurst finished the race ahead of the rest of the field, with Williams College just behind with a time of 16:04.  Rochester Institute of Technology rounded out the medals with a time of 16:24.

The men took to the water next in the Open Four event with another two entries.  The A entry won with a time of 16:29.  Ithaca finished second with a time of 16:47 and the State University of New York – Binghamton finished third with a time of 16:55.  The Lakers' B entry finished ninth with a final time of 17:54.

The Women's Open Four was the final Mercyhurst boat to race and just missed the medal stand with a fourth-place finish with a time of 19:39.  Medals went to Case Western University (18:44), Hamilton College (18:54) and SUNY – Geneseo (19:20).

"We had a great day of racing today," said Adrian Spracklen, head coach.  "We've put in a lot of work to improve our fitness and be more efficient and today's results should give us motivation to continue to work towards our goals."

Mercyhurst will race again in two weeks at the Head of the Charles.  You can follow the team's activities on Twitter @HurstRowing.

Line-ups

Men's Collegiate Eight A
C - Kevin McCarthy
S - Jonas Weller
7 - Galen Bernick
6 - Nemanja Matijevic
5 - Nemanja Uzanovic
4 - Djordje Simovic
3 - Jonathan Blazevic
2 - Harrison Kieffer
B - Anthony Delgreco
 
Men's Collegiate Eight B
C - Charles Hummel
S - Aaron Dowd
7 - Grant Coultrup
6 - Patrick Salvatore
5 - Nicholas Wnek
4 - Francisco Albayaty
3 - Zackary Ghalayini
2 - Jake Lennon
B - Blaze Kelly
 
Women's Collegiate Eight
C - Margaret Kneuer
S - Leah Griffin
7 - Abigail Rinard
6 - Hanna Schumacher
5 - Florentine Baron
4 - Cleary Johnston
3 - Maggie Switzer
2 - Kate Castonguay
B - Katarzyna Waletynowicz
 
Men's Open Four A
C - Ryan Baniszewski
S - Christopher Gough
3 - Will Fistek
2 - Chris Clark
B - Dan Evangelista
 
Men's Open Four B
C - Juliana Ruzbacki
S - Samuel Sheridan
3 - Jason Huang
2 - Marko Panic
B - Alec Buss
 
Women's Open Four
C - Chelsea Guida
S - Taylor Rider
3 - Mackenzie Elliott
2 - Kelsey Riggs
B - Rachel McKenna