THROGGS NECK, N.Y. (April 5, 2010) – The Maritime crew team began its 2010 spring season at the Murphy Cup in Philadelphia, Pa. the weekend of April 3-4. The regatta was hosted by Temple University and was a change to show the squad where it stood following weeks of winter training.
The day started off strong, with the men's novice lightweight and heavyweight four-man crews each competing in qualifying heats against crews from Drexel, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, LaSalle, Lafayette, Villanova, Colgate, Penn State, Lehigh, Loyola, the Merchant Marine Academy and approximately six other collegiate rowing programs. The lightweight novice men – freshmen stroke Brendan O'Connor (Congers, N.Y./Clarkstown North ), Terrance Cooper (Massapequa Park, N.Y./St. John the Baptist), John Ruggiero, Mike Messina and junior coxswain Ben Longworth (Wilton, Conn./) finished a close second to LaSalle and advanced to the finals.
The heavyweight novice men – freshmen stroke Tyler Ferris (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park), Woody Stephens, Jim Lorentz and Matt Fadden (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) and sophomore coxswain Bryan Pearson (Staten Island, N.Y./) failed to qualify, despite being in second place within the last 500 meters of the race when Ferris caught a boat stopping crab causing the crew to be passed by the other boats in their race.
Overall, the Men's Novice Heavyweight crew would finish ninth out of 16 crews, and the men's lightweight crew would finish fourth – a mere eight seconds out of first place – and in strong contention in this category especially considering the team a lightweight team in an open category.
“I fully expect the heavyweight team to improve weekly, as this boat is made up of strong athletes with limited, if any, prior experience with crew” said head coach Capt. Rick Smith. “The lightweights, however, all experienced rowers with the exception of two-man Ruggiero, are showing their tremendous potential and are in great position in both this category, and as a varsity lightweight crew. I fully expect a great performance next weekend at the Knecht Cup (Villanova) following a busy week of water time and practice. The team will also boat a men's novice eight in the upcoming weeks.”
The Varsity men competed in the heavyweight four-man event with senior co-captains Mike Hyland (Lynbrook, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) and Pary Palanisamy (Lansdale, Pa./) in the highly competitive men's open pair.
In the Men's Varsity four – stroke freshman Nick Tontarski (Berlin, N.J./), junior Mike Marone, Mike Hyland (Lynbrook, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial), Palanisamy and coxswain Pearson had a tough go against some quality varsity fours, and ended finishing approximately 36 seconds out of first place.
“The squad has lost two of the experienced varsity crewmen to injuries this year and putting together a varsity four takes many weeks of water time together in addition to physical conditioning and strength training,” said Smith. “I expect as this boat gets more experience they will make up a good 20 seconds on the competition, and will be at their performance standard by the end of the season.”
In the open varsity pair, Hyland and Palanisamy had a frustrating first race in a boat that is without coxswain to steer. They failed to qualify due to steering problems. Their performance in the boat will improve as their steering improves.
Men's Novice 4 final:
LaSalle 7:01
Colgate 7:04
Drexel 7:06
Maritime (LTWT) 7:08
Pittsburgh 7:28
Penn State 8:00
Other results (from heats):
Villanova 7:16
Lafayette 7:17
Loyola 7:24
Maritime (HVWT) 7:25
Rutgers 7:32
Richard Stockton 7:34
Lehigh 7:45
Merchant Marine 7:45.7
Penn State “B” 8:16
The Privateer women, along with the rest of the team, compete the weekend of April 10-11 at the Knecht Cup in Camden, N.J. The two-day regatta features over 50 teams from all over the United States.
