KNECHT CUP RECAP
On Saturday, April 13, the Maritime College rowing teams attended the Knecht Cup Regatta on the Cooper River in Pennsauken/Cherry Hill, NJ. Maritime raced a Women's Frosh/Novice Four, a Men's Frosh/Novice Four, and a Men's Frosh/Novice Eight.

The Privateers Women's Four, rowed by Kim Walsh, Kaila Kotkiewitcz, Michelle Eckert (), Abby Boylan (West Point, N.Y./James I. O'Neill), and coxed by Ben Ludwig (New City, N.Y./Clarsktown North), raced against formidable competition in Holy Cross, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Pittsburgh, Thomas Jefferson, and Army. Maritime rowed strong but ended up in last position after Army. 

Maritime's Men's Frosh/Novice Four raced against Bowdoin, Penn State, the Technical College of New Jersey, and Michigan. Rowers Erik Hanke, Mark Reeve, Kyle Feste, Kevin Kunsch, and steered by first time coxswain Shirley Diaz, asserted themselves strongly by defeating TCNJ and Michigan. The results placed them into the Third Final, where they faced off against Catholic University, Rhode Island, Carnegie Mellon, TCNJ A, and TCNJ B. In an excellent race, Maritime fought for second place only allowing Catholic University from Washington, D.C., to pass them.

In the Men's Frosh/Novice Eight the team of Erik Hankerings, Mark Reeve, Kevin Kunsch, Kyle Feste, Ben Ludwig (New City, N.Y./Clarsktown North), Srinivasa Mudumba, Kaila Kotkiewitcz, Kim Walsh, and coxswain Shirley Diaz set out to try their luck against Virginia, Army, George Mason, and Catholic U. However, even their best effort the team was not able to hold off the competition and the Privateers came in 5th.

Head coach Clemens Reinke said, "For a team that is slowly rebuilding it was still a positive experience, as this was the first time for a number of our rowers to be involved in a regatta. They did well for that, and gained much experience. We are looking forward to our next competition this Saturday at the Kerr Cup in Philadelphia."

KERR CUP RECAP
On Saturday, April 20, the rowers of the Maritime Crew Team, both men and women, competed at the 53rd Annual Kerr Cup Regatta. Thirty-four colleges sent 160 boats compete on the 2000m course on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Ten rowers representing SUNY Maritime College competed in three different boats.

Maritime's Women's Freshmen Four with Kaila Kotkiewicz (), Shirley Diaz, Emily Heins (), Kim Walsh, and coxswain Ben Ludwig (New City, N.Y./Clarsktown North) were ready to compete with the tough competition when at the start the foot plate in Emily Heins' () rowing station broke. Now with two less rowers the team still took on the challenge to complete the course, but inevitably fell to Lafayette. Drexel, and Temple.

The Men's Freshmen Four, however, (Erik Hanke, Mark Reeve, Kyle Feste, Anthony Cialdella, and coxswain Chris Chilelli) succeeded in their race by placing second in their heat, losing against Drexel and beating Haverford College. The second place finish qualified the Privateers for the final.

In the final, the Privateers fought well, passing West Point and Mary Washington around the middle of the race. But in the end it was not enough to come out on top as they fell to Drexel, Colgate, Loyola MD, West Point, and Mary Washington. This race marked the final day of competition for senior Chris Chilelli, who competed all four years for the rowing team. Head coach Clemens Reinke noted that Chris will be missed by the team and that he couldn't be more appreciative of everything he's put into the program.

Maritime's last race of the day was the Women's Varsity Pair rowed by Emily Heins () and Kimberly Walsh (). The pair is one of the most difficult boat classes to master, which is why Maritime had only one opponent, Lafayette College. In addition, this was a Varsity category, and our rowers only started rowing in the pair this past month. For Emily Heins () it was only the third time ever sitting in a pair. The duo was unable to defeat Lafayette College, but showed a lot of promise in the tough race.