UD Men Race at Indianapolis Invitational
The University of Dayton men were back in action this past weekend at the Indianapolis Collegiate Invitational. It provided a good chance for the Flyers to get a look at some new teams with St. Thomas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, and Michigan attending along with other teams UD has seen at previous races. The racing throughout the day had many exciting finishes in continuously worsening conditions.
Novice
On the novice side, the men entered two boats as usual, the Novice 8 and the Novice 4. However, lineups were rearranged so that the novices were able to field a lightweight boat for the 8 and a heavy boat for the 4. A light 8 and heavy 4 would be the ideal setup for a team with the personnel of the UD novice. The lightweight 8 finished 4th in their morning race, coming up just short of qualifying for a spot in the afternoon grand final. They raced again in the petite final in what proved to be a 2 boat race. The lightweights finished 2nd behind a tough Notre Dame freshmen crew and blew out the rest of the field. They finished 8th overall, a respectable finish for a lightweight crew in an open event.
The novice 4 competed in a final only event in a 7 team field. They ran into some tough luck and were unable to recover. The heavy 4 was in the hunt in a very close race through the first 750 meters before they encountered equipment issues when one of the seats came off its slide. They attempted to row without it before realizing it would be impossible to be competitive without sliding. After stopping to repair the seat the four was too far behind to make a reasonable comeback. They finished 7th in a disappointing finish.
Varsity
The varsity also had two boats entered in competition, a V4 and a V8. With only one varsity spare though, they had to field a composite 4 in the varsity 4 event. With the help of Cincinnati, the varsity 4 that raced was made up of 1 Dayton varsity rower, 1 Dayton novice rower, 1 Dayton novice coxswain, and 2 Cincy novice rowers. Not exactly an ideal lineup for a varsity 4 event. The composite four overachieved, however, holding off a Northwestern four and passing a Miami four that crabbed in the sprint to take the last spot in Grand Finals. The worsening conditions of the afternoon took their toll on the mostly novice boat, as they fell behind the field in the final, finishing 6th. It was the highest finish of all UD boats in competition that afternoon.
The varsity 8, coming off a third level final victory at SIRA, were eager to make a splash in the grand final at ICI. They drew a tough heat, with Marietta and Purdue at the forefront. The 8 had to battle with a strong Notre Dame Varsity squad for the third position in heats and the last spot in grands. After intense competition between the two boats, a strong UD sprint at the finish fell just short as they finished 4th by less than a second. The resilient V-men bounced back for the petite final as they have done all year. They fell behind the entire field at the start of the final before steadily working their way through the entire field and sprinting through Minnesota at the very end to take 1st in petites. Their 7th place finish was somewhat disappointing, but there were still many positive takeaways from the racing as a whole.
The varsity will be in action next weekend at MACRA in Grand Rapids. It will be their last warm up before both the novice and the varsity squads compete at Dad Vails to conclude the season.
SIRA 2007
The men’s crew team had their first major regatta of the season this past weekend at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships (SIRA) in Oak Ridge, TN. SIRA always has a strong field, but none have been as deep as the 2007 field. The addition of Dad Vail teams St. Joe’s and Temple increased the depth of quality, as did UCLA’s appearance. With the race being held on a Melton Lake course with little current and great weather, SIRA proved to be a good test for the UD men.
The novice men entered both the Novice 8 event and the Novice 4 event. The novice 4 raced early Saturday morning and got off to a slow start. They recovered and moved back into the pack, but used too much energy making up the lost ground so they faded at the end. Their 5th place finish eliminated them from further racing.
The novice 8 had a positive heat draw and used it to their advantage, rowing to a 2nd place finish behind only perennial power Virginia. This moved them into the A/B semis guaranteeing them a spot in either the grand or petit finals. Their 2nd place finish also placed them in a favorable semifinal to have a shot at a place in the grand final. However, the semifinal race was a little sloppy, with the novice crew fading in the last 1000m before finishing 5th and moving them to the petit final. On Sunday, the novice faced two of their season rivals, Michigan State and Cincinnati, in the petit final along with Virginia, NC State, and Florida. They rowed to a tough 4th place finish in the petit final, placing them 10th overall in a field of 20 teams. It was a very respectable finish for the novice crew in their first major regatta appearance.
The varsity men entered only the Varsity 8 event, which also consisted of a field of 20 teams. The teams were seeded up to 12, and placed in heats. The UD men were not seeded, but were placed in a heat that allowed them to make a run at the A/B semifinals. After a clean row, though, the V8’s late charge proved to be too little too late against a 12th seeded Texas crew. This moved the men into the C semifinals, eliminating the chance of racing in the petit finals. Disappointed at first, the resilient varsity bounced back to win their semifinal over an improved Mercyhurst team, giving them a good lane for the C final on Sunday morning. With the field being so deep, the C final field still consisted of many teams UD has been fighting with all year along with a Tulane crew that was edged out by North Carolina in the heats. The varsity men saved their best performance of the weekend for last, winning the C final. They beat Tulane by about 1.5 seconds and Mercyhurst by about 3.5 seconds. The win placed them 13th overall, a successful finish considering the quality of the field.
Both the novice and the varsity men will be in action again next weekend at the Indianapolis Collegiate Invitational.
Flyers Compete in Grand Rapids
The UD men competed in America’s “Other West Coast” Regatta this past weekend in Grand Rapids, MI. It was hosted by Grand Valley State University and was attended by a number of quality teams in the region including Cincinnati, Northwestern, and Michigan State, among others. It gave the men’s team a good look at some of the competition for the remaining four regattas of the season. The race was held on a slow 1700 meter course that raced into a swift current; conditions not favoring the smaller Dayton crew.
In novice races, UD entered a novice A and B four as well as a novice 8. The A four finished less than a half second off Cincinnati for second place. The B four placed second in their race. The novice 8 had an impressive performance, showing significant improvement since the Marietta Invitational. They placed second behind only a fast Grand Valley State squad that beat Michigan’s freshmen earlier in the spring. They also beat Michigan State and a Cincinnati crew that had bested them at the Marietta Invite.
On the varsity side, the men entered three boats as well: A and B fours, and the varsity 8. In the fours races, both boats had frustrating races, which was understandable considering they had not practiced in the lineups previous to racing. Unfortunately, the break between the fours and the eights race was a small one, and the frustration carried over to the Varsity 8 race. After getting down off the start, the boat never regained the rhythm they had in practices the week before. The V8 finished a respectable third behind Cincinnati and GVSU, holding off a strong sprint by Michigan State.
The team will be in action again this upcoming weekend in their first major regatta of the season, SIRA. SIRA has the strongest and deepest field it has had in a long time, so there should be plenty of good racing.
UD Men Open Spring Season at Marietta Invitational
The University of Dayton Men marked the official opening of their spring racing season by competing in the Marietta Invitational this past weekend in Marietta, OH. The relatively small event was packed with quality competition for both the novice and varsity squads. Other men’s teams competing included Marietta College, University of Cincinnati, Mercyhurst College, and Bucknell, among others.
The novice squad entered a boat into the Novice 8 as well as two boats in the Novice 4 event. The novice 8, competing for the first time since spring break scrimmages, finished 3rd behind a very talented Bucknell novice squad and Cincinnati’s novice A boat. It was a good result showing progress early in the racing season. The novice 4’s proved to be evenly matched, finishing just .01 seconds apart over the 2000m course. They finished 3rd and 4th overall behind novice 4’s from Cincinnati and Marietta.
The varsity squad entered only the Varsity 8 event, which had heats and finals since 6 boats entered the event and the river was too narrow for all to race at once. The varsity won their morning heat by beating Bucknell, who edged out Cincinnati for a spot in the afternoon final. The other morning heat saw host Marietta advance as well as Merchurst. The final had to be started twice due to a collision in the first 200m between Dayton and Mercyhurst on the first start. Once the race was restarted, an inspired Dayton Crew rowed to a 2nd place finish, just 6.5 seconds off a Marietta Crew who are the reigning Dad Vail champs in the V8. It was a promising start to the 2007 racing season for both squads.
The men’s team will now take off Easter weekend from racing and prepare for two consecutive duels in Michigan the following weekend.UD Races at Charles and Speakmon
By: Will Hanlon
The fall racing season has reached its peak for the men’s crew team as they have just competed in two regattas in back-to-back weekends.
The team had an extremely successful spring season last year, including bronze medals won by both the varsity and novice squads in the Dad Vail Regatta, considered by many to be the national collegiate championship of rowing. Now, months later, after a loss of several senior oarsmen and a change in head coach, the team has found itself holding its own so far this season with one race to go before concluding the fall racing season with a dual meet versus rivals from the University of Cincinnati.
On Oct. 21, the team entered Boston after a 13-hour van ride to compete in the Head of the Charles Regatta, the largest regatta in the world. Over 200 teams participated, from as far away as China. To say the least, it was “some hefty competition,” sophomore oarsman Nick Piekarski said.
Races held during the fall are “head race” style, where boats begin with a rolling start and race more against the clock than directly against the other boats. Nonetheless, Piekarski describes passing another boat “an adrenaline rush,” saying that passing another boat makes you want to row even harder. Head races are also more long-distance races instead of sprints, as the Head of the Charles Regatta length was roughly 4,840 meters.
After a smooth row during the race, the Flyers finished 29th out of the 59 teams that competed in the men’s collegiate 8+ division with a final time of 16:16.317. Alumni of the UD men’s crew team noted that this year’s time was one of the fastest in the fifteen year history of the club sport, according to Piekarski.
“It was a lot of fun. I never knew how big of a rowing city Boston was,” Piekarski said. The town was like a mini-festival that weekend, with food stands, shops, and a stage set up for various bands to play, Piekarski added.
The following Saturday, the team took the trip to Columbus, Ohio to participate in the Speakmon Regatta. Various Big-10 schools were present, such as Michigan and Purdue, along with a few local schools such as Miami (Ohio) Denison and University of Cincinnati.
Although not all the boats the team put in the river had the best of rows, a 4+ full of sophomores finished 5th overall in their respective race with a powerful team comprised of Piekarski, Mike Braman, Brian Conlon and Paul McNeil, coxed by Kate Athmer.
When asked to describe the rowing experience, Piekarski said “People don’t realize how hard we have to work. It’s not just a physical sport—it’s a mental sport. You have to push yourself to the extreme…You want to pull harder, you want to pull faster, even when you’re body’s hurting,” Piekarski said.
After last year’s head coach Derek Copeland switched over to coaching the women’s novice team, Mike Schena, a former UD grad as well as former rower of the team, stepped up to fill the vacant position.
“We’re still getting used to a new coach,” Piekarski said. “We’re hoping for a really good spring season and we’re looking forward to Coach Schena helping us get faster.”
Coaches Mitch Vossler, Nick Mihalik, and Greg Schena the wise and fearless leaders of the inexperienced, yet promising novice team hope to push their freshmen rowers up to the varsity level by the spring season. The novice team ended up putting two boats in the Speakmon Regatta, both finishing with respectable rows, according to senior oarsman Justin Polacek.
SIRA Recap 2006
Here is a recap of the events of SIRA from the perspective of those in the races. In case you haven't heard, the novice 4 took bronze out of a field of 24 and the Varsity 8 placed second in the petites, besting last years finish by one place.
Novice 4
From one of the rowers:
"The whole experience was amazing to say the least. Going into the first race all of us were pretty nervous because it was our first major race. Even though our nerves got the best of us and we were sloppy going down the race course, we managed to pull ourselves together in the end and finish third in our heat. Semi's came and it was like we were a new team. Everyone was totally relaxed and the boat was incredibly smooth. After that race we were ecstatic to even be going to the grand finals. We knew it would take a lot of work to medal but we manned up and did what we had to do. The craziest part of the whole race I think was that for the body of most of our races we were at a 29/30 stroke rate. I don't think any of us knew that we had that kind of power and it seems like we were a little afraid to use it during semi's because of what happened during our first heat. But the best feeling for all of us was walking through all of those boats knowing that half of the guys were bigger than us. It was an unexplainable feeling of team unity and adrenaline through grand finals as we tried to beat Texas. Even though we did medal, we're all going to continue to train harder to get that 6 tenths of a second that Texas beat us by and 3.5 seconds that Tampa beat us by."
From the coxswains seat:
Heat: "First race was very powerful but not a clean row. Very bad start due to being blown into the next lane right off the blocks. Started in last by over a boat length, were in first with about 750 to go. Couple crabs and chili dippers put us in the fight for third with UGA, beat them by a couple seats. Finished third to make semis." Semi: "Second race was extremely relaxed with a very clean row (rated at a 29 nearly the whole race), started in DFL again, stayed calm, rowed past a yelling UD crowd just before the thousand and started our move. Made our move in the 3rd 500 again to push into third. Again finished third to make grand, just a second off NSU. Edged out Emory, who won our heat Friday (went from 4 sec down to 4 sec up)." Final: "Last race combined the power with a flawless row, UC let us borrow a newer Vespoli for the final. Started in 5th, rowed the 2nd 500 at a 29, walked thru UVA and NSU in the 3rd 500 after pushing the rate to a 31. Called the rate up at the last 500 to a 32/33 (that was our sprint) to try to rob Texas. finished 6 tenths off Texas, 3 sec off Tampa for third. According to UC's coach our boys lengthened in the sprint instead of shortening their strokes."
V8
"we were down at the start of every race and had to walk
through everybody that we beat, we were literally open water down in
the first few hundred meters to boats that we would beat"
"we used a move at 1000 that really helped that"
"if we can get our starts and sprints down, I think we can do
something"
Spring Break Training
(Recent Flyer News Article, written by Will Hanlon)
As the grueling weeks of winter training are finally coming to an end, the UD Men’s Crew team has one last stop before their spring season commences: Oakridge, Tenn.
While much of UD will be partying in Florida and enjoying warm weather and most everyone else going home or finding other relaxing locations, the men’s crew team will be heading to rowing camp where they will wake up at dawn everyday, endure practice three times a day and sleep on gym floors every night.
Sound crazy? Maybe, but intense is a better word to describe the men’s rowing team. Being a club sport, the team doesn’t get a lot of publicity; however, it’s their intensity that brings them up to the level of other rowing teams across the country, and they’re out to prove that.
Since December, the team has spent countless hours on their ergs (rowing machines) doing repetitive drills and steaming up the erg room that you’ll see on Brown St. Everyday their endurance builds up and their times get faster. Team members commit themselves to doing daily second workouts. Everyday they get stronger and tougher.
“It’s pretty much a regimented workout,” junior oarsman Justin Polacek commented. “Everyone’s in it for their own reasons. You don’t want to be the person in the boat who messes up.” Winter training is not just an individual effort for one person to get faster and stronger; it’s to make the whole team faster and stronger. “If I work harder the person in front of me is going to work harder, and the person in front of him is going to work harder,” Polacek remarked. “Everyone’s effort strengthens the team.”
So this Friday the team will pack up their boats and oars and head down to Oakridge, Tenn. where they will focus on nothing but rowing for a whole week. The team wakes up every morning at dawn, grabs a quick bite to eat and heads to the river. These dawn practices last for a couple hours. A couple hours after that the team goes back to the river and does the same thing. Later in the afternoon, the team goes back to the river for a third practice. That night, they enjoy a team dinner together. Throughout the week, the team will be racing other teams present at the camp. Ranging from Marquette and Cleveland State to Upper Canada and the U.S. Naval Academy, UD will surely have a variety of schools to pick from on whom to race that day. So when you’re sitting on the beach this spring break sipping your choice of beverage, think of the crew team and how hard they’re working to represent UD and make themselves a force to be reckoned with in the rowing world.
Once the season starts, the team will travel to regattas located in Knoxville, Tenn., Indianapolis and Philadelphia. This is where all the work done from winter training and spring break comes into play. As mentioned before, UD’s men’s rowing team is a club sport, not a varsity sport like many of the other rowing teams across the country. Polacek remarked that other teams look down on them, saying “We are a club underdog—they’ll see our boats and equipment and think we’re goofing off. We want to let them know that we’re serious.” It’s their hardcore attitude and under the radar powerful team that will prove that UD men’s crew is no joke.
Last year at the Dad Vail regatta, UD’s crew lost to various big name schools by only seconds. This year, the team hopes to be stronger and faster, and winter training is the key to that. With a successful spring break, the team’s morale will be high and will be pumped up for their upcoming races.
Asking Polacek why he was into this sport, he gave several reasons, however this one stuck out the most: “You just want something to show for all your work.” Few teams here at UD are as passionate about their sport and are as hard working as the UD’s men’s crew team. Call them crazy if you’d like, but there’s no beating around it, the guys on this team are the toughest guys on campus.
