Spring 2008 Newsletter

This was the most intense, exciting and rewarding spring of my nine years at WPI.  And that's saying a lot!  Throughout the year, the men's varsity eight was so close to beating the top New England crews, but kept falling just short, while the 2V really struggled early in the season.  Both crews, however, closed the year out with excellent performances at both the New England Championships and the ECAC National Invitational Regatta.  The women's team also finished the year with a great showing at the two championships.

The women's team decided to break down into two fours for the championship season.  This proved an excellent decision.  The varsity four of Allison DiNitto, Amanda Rukszenis, Kyla Bye-Nagel, Bridget Stevens and Katie Siering won the silver medal at New England's and then went on to do the same thing at The ECAC National Championships.   Both finals played out very similarly with Simmons winning, WPI second and Conn College third.  The 2V4 finished fourth at New England's, but did not race at ECACs.  Coach Jason Steele hopes that this success will be the foundation for his program to once again be successful in the eights as they were a few years ago when the women's varsity eight won medals at both Championship regattas.  More info on the women's season can be found in the "Women's Crew Section" of this newsletter.

The men's team had the best regular season of my tenure here at WPI, and yet also one of the most frustrating.  At all levels, we won more shirts than ever, but the V8 narrowly lost races to Wes, Trinity and Williams.  With the possible exception of Trinity, they could have won any of those races.  There was simply a mental block that they could not overcome.  The young athletes did not believe they should beat those three crews who had dominated New England's for the past few years, so they didn't.  Still, strong wins over Bates, New Hampshire, RIT, UMass, URI and BC made for a rewarding year.  The 2V struggled early in the year, and it wasn't until we shuffled the lineup that they began to gather speed.  They closed the year with decisive wins over UMass, BC, UNH and Bates, and pushed Trinity to the limit before loosing a close race.

New England's was a microcosm of the season.  The varsity qualified easily in the morning, and lost a heartbreaker in the afternoon.  They went into the last 500 meters about a length down on the three front crews and then began to charge.  They almost caught both Wes and Williams.  The final margin was .8 seconds out of second, and .4 seconds out of third.  Bates, the fifth place crew was over a length back.  Fourth place, and such a close fourth place, may well be the toughest place of all to finish.  One more stroke and the medal would have been theirs.  They were devastated.  Seven man Scott Gary told me that the row home was the longest of his life.  Still, the varsity eight was clearly one of the top four crews in New England, and that was a huge step forward for the program, and something the rowers should be very proud of. The 2V rowed a very similar race to the Varsity, only they actually caught Coast Guard on the last stroke of the race and earned the bronze medal by .4 seconds.  It was among the more exciting races that I have watched, and I was really happy for seniors Berk Birand and Burak Derkunt, as well as for the rest of the boat.  The 3V finished 4^th and the 2V four finished 6^th.  So, once again, all WPI men's boats made the grand finals of the New England Championships.

The racing at the ECAC National Invitational Regatta was tremendous.  Every heat, semifinal and final was contested right down to the last stroke.  After many of the races, no one knew where the crews had placed.  The crews were that close.  The varsity opened on Saturday by barely defeating a hungry UNH crew that was bent on ruining our season.  They almost did, but the V8 managed to pull through UNH in the last few strokes and advanced to the A/B semifinal for the first time in program history.  The Varsity did not row a great semi.  They finished fifth and so were relegated to the petite final.  However, they gathered themselves during the lunch break, and rowed the best race of the year that afternoon.  They crossed the thousand slightly less than a length down on Ithaca College who was in the lead with Wes and UVA also in front of the WPI boat.  At 800 to go, stroke Connor McGrath ‘09, took the crew to 38 and they began to move on the other boats.  With 500 to go, they went to 40 and kept moving.  The final 200 meters were unbearably intense as the WPI crew continued to close the gap on the other boats. The finish was so close that no one on shore knew who had finished first and who had finished fourth (I have enclosed the finish line picture) .  The final result was: Ithaca: 6:08.8, WPI: 6:09.5, Wes: 6:10, UVA: 6:10.2, Cal Davis: 6:12.4 and Cal San Diego: 6:14.7.  What a race to end the year on and we had finally beaten Wes!  As well as UVA and the two California schools.  Overall, The Varsity eight placed 8^th of 22 crews in the ECACs.

The 2V barely qualified for it's final in the morning.  They did not row well, but they did advance.  So, like the varsity, they went home for lunch and gathered themselves.  That afternoon, they rowed the race of their lives.  They led all crews to the thousand when Trinity and Michigan caught and passed them.  However, they held on for the bronze medal, easily defeating Coast Guard, Wes, and Cal San Diego, and finishing only two seconds behind perennial powerhouse Michigan.  A bronze medal at the ECACs.  Not bad for the crew that lost to Wes by 10 secs in the first race of the year.  The 3V won the Petite final.

We loose four seniors from the whole squad, and have several good freshmen joining us this year, so we expect to continue to improve.  Hopefully, everyone will train hard this summer and will arrive at school this August ready to go fast.  Have a great summer, and see you in the fall.

Larry Noble