Mercyhurst University vs University of Pennsylvania

This weekend the mens team traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a dual against Penn. There is no better way to start off the season then testing our early speed against Ivy League competition.




The results were:

Varsity 8: Penn 1V 5:49.3 Penn 2V 5:57.5 Mercyhurst 1V 5:57.9 Varsity Four: Mercyhurst 6:49.1 Penn 7:17.8

Frosh/Novice 8: Mercyhurst 1F 5:50.1 Penn 1F 5:58.1 Penn 3V 5:59.8

(http://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=5277270&cat=1#.VRk5vFPF9ew)





We loaded the buses early Friday Morning and hit the road for our 7 hour trip to Philly. Upon arrival, the mens and women's teams went for a practice row on the beautiful Schuylkill River.

The men's team, being a Varsity Lightweight Program, weighed in with the Penn team Friday evening to make sure all of the rowers were at (or under) weight for Saturdays competition. Every guy must be under 160 pounds and the entire boat must have an average weight of no more than 155 pounds. Some of the guys continue to lose weight up to the last second before stepping on the scale. However, the second after stepping on the scale, it is a race to see how quickly the guys can rehydrate and replenish the nutrients lost while they were cutting weight. 

We woke up to a sunny, cool, spring morning on Saturday, which allowed for ideal racing conditions. Although rowers prefer no wind at all while rowing, a "tail-wind", which pushed you from behind, making the race faster, is the preferred wind in a rowers opinion. 

I was in the Varsity 8 race, which was the last race of the day, and the wind shifted to a head wind half-way into our race, making it especially challenging for the guys right as the lactic acid starts to really hit hard. 

(Varsity 8: Brian Comey, Milos Veres, Nick Wnek, Jonny Blazevic, Blaze Kelly, Jake Lennon,   Gary Loo, Aaron Dowd, Harrison Kieffer) 

All-in-all, the weekend shined a light on the depth and young talent we have in our crews. Although our Varsity 8 did not win, there were many things that we took away from this weekend that we can build on as a team. We look forward to keep stepping in the ring with the toughest competition in the country by racing Ivy League crews time and time again. 

(Freshman 8: Charles Hummel, Jonas Weller, Pat Salvatore, Galen Bernick, Nemanja Uzanovic, Zack Ghalayini, Bernardo Ramirez, Anthony Delgreco, Danny Madden)

(Varsity 4: Kevin McCarthy, Douglas Riethmuller, Sam Sheridan, Amel Younis, Sam Rouse)

Just as our scrimmage with Navy showed promise for our Spring Season, this weekend's dual agains Penn further proved that we have a lot in store this season, and we are all anxious to continue gaining speed throughout the month of April. 

-B