Rowing takes home four medals at First Coast Head Race
Rowing takes home four medals at First Coast Head Race
The JU rowing teams got a great start to the 2008-09 season by hosting its annual alumni race, dedicating four boats and then capturing four medals (three gold, one silver) at the First Coast Head Race.
In the Alumni Race, two men’s and one women’s alumni boats competed against the Varsity 8
and two Novice 8 boats to kick things off. Among the two alumni men’s boats were former Dolphins represented from each decade of the program. Following the boat dedications, the Dolphins went to work on their first race of the fall season on the Arlington and St. Johns Rivers.
"It was an excellent day at the Negaard Rowing Center," said JU director of rowing and head men’s coach Jim Mitchell. "We had an excellent turn out for our annual alumni race including former JU rowers from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s. They all got out in boats and looked like they haven’t missed a beat.
"We also had the opportunity to dedicate four boats today for people who have contributed to our program in many ways. These friends and family of JU Rowing mean so much to our program that we feel blessed to race in boats bearing their names."
At the First Coast Head Race, JU had a total of seven boats competing including four from the men (Championship 8 "A", Championship 8 "B", Championship 4 "A", Championship 4 "B") and three from the women (Championship 8, Championship 4 "A", Championship 4 "B").
The Women’s Championship 8 consisting of coxswain R. Maria Sotelo, Stephanie Bechtold, Daniel Fournier, Jenna Barker, Adelina Anderson, Jill Carmody, Morgan McTiernan, Kelly Burke and Karly Greer started things off with a gold medal mark of 18:34 ahead of Nova
Southeastern "A" (19:06), Florida "A" (19:17), College of Charleston (19:46), Florida "B" (19:55), Nova Southeastern "B" (19:58) and Florida "C" (22:03).
"This is a fabulous start for the season," said JU women’s head coach Anna Talucci. "Winning the Champ 8 with a margin of 32 seconds is a great first step for the fall. We now have three weeks to build off this win and prepare for our next race."
The Men’s Championship 4 "A" with coxswain Tom Richards, Dylan Kostan, Richmond Jones, Tyler Humphrey and Stefan Negaard followed with a first-place time of 18:18 ahead of Florida "A" (18:52), Florida "B" (18:57), College of Charleston (19:29), UCF (19:49), JU "B" (20:10) and Florida "C" (21:10). The Dolphins "B" boat consisted of coxswain Andrew Soloway, Wayne Reichard, Parker Lawler, Dan Hutchinson and Chris Ottie.
The Women’s Championship 4 "A" with coxswain Jamie Goldstein, Jill Carmody, Karly Greer, Julia Fairchild and Morgan McTiernan placed fourth with a mark of 22:45 behind Nova Southeastern (22:09), Orlando Rowing Club (22:34) and Florida "B" (22:44). The Women’s Championship 4 "B" with coxswain R. Maria Sotelo, Candace Barber, Allison Sobiech, Caitlin Halloran and Elise Perna finished with a mark of 23:15 behind Florida "A" (22:59) and Nova Southeastern "B" (23:04) but ahead of Florida "C" (23:42) and College of Charleston (27:19).
The Men’s Championship 8 "A" with coxswain Dan Moore, Erich Negaard, Richmond Jones, Andy Davis, Sebastian Kuhn, John Gerety, Isaiah LaCount, Wayne Richard and Chris Barse finished the day with a gold medal time of 16:28 ahead of JU "B" with coxswain Anthony Magro, Dylan Kosten, Stefan Negaard, Tyler Humphrey, Brad Woodrum, Isaac LaCount, Parker Lawler, Joey Civello and Kevin Friedlander (16:33), UCF (16:47), Florida "A" (17:00) and Florida "B" (17:32).
"I feel like our guys rowed really great for this time of the season," said Mitchell. "All of our boats rowed technically well, which has been our focus for the last month. We still have work to do and will continue to focus on our technical skills, as well as, increase fitness to prepare for our next race. Overall, I am very happy with our team and look forward to see what we can do this year.
JU will next take to the water on Nov. 1 when the Dolphins compete in the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, Tenn.
