Hobart and William Smith Colleges

19 October 2015 Hobart Wins Head of the Charles

The Hobart College rowing team won the collegiate eight event at the Head of the Charles Regatta on Sunday, Oct. 18. This is the second time in program history the Statesmen have won the event, and the fourth time they have reached the podium.

Hobart won the collegiate eight event in 2002, inaugural racing of the collegiate eight event. The Statesmen won a silver medal in 2014 and a bronze medal in 2007.

Hobart cruised to a five second victory over an elite field of 41 teams, finishing with a time of 15:32.704. The Hobart varsity eight was powered by coxswain Sam Zuckerman 16, August Wherry 16, Davis Muller 16, John Hibbard 17, Julien Green 16, Brett Lawhon 16, D. Griffin Marsh 17, Alex Witt 19 and Matthew Sylvan 17. After finishing second last year, the Statesmen were awarded the No. 2 bow ball and passed Michigan who started 15 seconds ahead of them by the third checkpoint.

Hobart was sixth at the first and second checkpoints. Zuckerman called for a power move in the middle of the course as the Statesmen passed Michigan and turned in the fastest time at the Cambridge/BC checkpoint. With open water in front of them, the Statesmen also posted the fastest split time at the final checkpoint. The University of Delaware took home the silver medal and Williams College rounded out the podium, crossing the line 1.62 seconds behind the Fightin Blue Hens.

This years race marks the 10th consecutive year that Hobart has finished in the top 10 in the collegiate eight division at the worlds largest two-day regatta.

The whole weekend was a celebration of Hobart rowing, Head Coach Paul Bugenhagen said. The varsity eight race took shape the way we planned it. The crew is fit and strong and used those attributes in the last mile to secure the victory. A win at the Head of the Charles Regatta is a big feather in any rowers cap and I am very happy for the crew.

The William Smith College rowing team also competed in Head of the Charles Regatta. The Heron varsity eight finished 17th out of 32 entries in the worlds largest regatta.

Hobarts third varsity eight also competed in Sundays collegiate eight event. Coxswain Sky Drazek 16, Kemal Turksonmez 19, Dylan Bennett 19, Anthony Giovenelli 18, Ben Robinson 18, Scott Hanks 19, Steven Ives 19, Steven Bunce 19 and Sam Menchel16 completed the 4800m course in 16:34.119, finishing 29th overall.

On Saturday, Oct. 17, the 2V8 competed in the Mens Club Eight event. Julia Dexter 17, Milos Milosavljevic 16, Patrick Ware 16, Dilan Bower 18, Jordan Rooth 16, James Davis 16, Harrison Luce 17, Sam Ash 17 and Mike Giroux 17 crossed the line 21st, completing the course in 16:14.138.

The Statesmen also entered two alumni eights in Saturdays Mens Alumni Eights race. Joseph Biesemeyer 15 and Andrew Fosbrook 10 served as strokes for the Elder Statesmen, placing 29th and 48th respectively in a field of 57 crews.

Hobart will complete their fall season on Nov. 7 when they travel to Ithaca for the Cornell Invitational.