Men's Crew Finishes Second at San Diego
3/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Rowing
SAN DIEGO - The Gonzaga men's crew team opened its spring season with a second-place finish against the University of San Diego and UC-San Diego on Friday morning in Mission Bay, California.
The Zags finished second behind USD in three of four boats they put on the water, and second behind UCSD in the third varsity 8+ boat.
"This was a good first race for us, and overall we were pleased, but not satisfied with the results," head coach Dan Gehn said.
In the varsity 8+, GU's young and talented crew of Max Baker, Eric Engel, Joe Morris, Alex Yuska, Bryce Dillon, Dylan Ojeda, Ben Duermit, Connor Nash and Atticus Patterson stayed within striking distance, but fell just short in finishing 1.4 seconds behind the Toreros with a time of 6:22.1.
"In the V8, we knew USD was going to go out fast so our game plan was to stay close and attack in the last 800 meters which we did," Gehn said. "We charged hard in the last 200, but we ran out of room. This was a great learning experience especially with four freshmen in the boat."
The second varsity 8+ boat of Steven Peterson, Alex Lund, Walker Capra-Smith, Devon Billy, Kyle Hagmeier, Connor Murray, Carsten Beckwith-Strike, Cole Garcia and Quinn Nash were just 2.4 seconds behind USD with a time of 6:33.1.
"The 2V8 race unfolded about the same as the Varsity, but we were not as efficient in the last half of the race as we needed to be," Gehn said.
The third varsity 8+ crew of Douglas Kempthorne, Keagan Tice, Connor Mitchell, Jon Sailer, Matt Hoitink, Josh Hoidn, Kale Reichersamer, Max Sombrowski and James Ferris battled against just UCSD and came out 23 seconds behind with a time of 7:09.7.
In the four-boat freshmen/novice 8+, GU's team of Adriana Marrero, Eric Engel, Quinn Nash, Connor Nash, Bryce Dillon, Jon Sailer, Kale Reichersamer, Max Sombrowski and Connor Heffernan held tough with USD and came in second with a time of 6:39.5 just 5.3 seconds behind the Toreros.
"We have two more scrimmages, one tonight and another in the morning," Gehn said. "That is what makes this such a valuable trip for us. We have an opportunity to make adjustments and have a chance again under race conditions. "
Complete Results
Varsity 8+
USD - 6:20.7
GU - 6:22.1
UCSD - 6:28.0
Second Varsity 8+
USD - 6:30.7
GU - 6:33.1
UCSD - 6:44.9
Third Varsity 8+
UCSD - 6:46.6
GU - 7:09.7
*Both boats stopped before the flag
Frosh/Novice 8+
USD - 6:34.1
GU - 6:39.5
UCSD-A - 6:41.5
UCSD-B - 6:42.7
