Worcester, MA and Henley-on-Thames, England --- The WPI two-man boat of Corey Stephens (Douglas, MA) and Max French (Harwinton, CT) competed this afternoon in the Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup at the Henley River Regatta in England. 

The duo lost by the second smallest margin of the eight first round matchups occurred on Thursday.  The Engineers were defeated by the team of Holden-Smith & Randolph representing Oxford Brookes University and Taurus, England.

On Wednesday, a pair of WPI boat crews performed well at the opening-round of competition at the world-renowned regatta but narrowly missed their opportunity to advance into the next round of races. It was the first time the university had competed in the internationally known crew event. WPI was one of just 27 American institutions participating this year.

WPI's eight and four-person boats rowed in tight races on Wednesday, each coming within a length and a half of winning their opening-round races. Competing in the Temple Cup race, the varsity eight was narrowly defeated by Brown University. After the completion of 12 of the 16 first-round Temple Cup races, Brown, with 6 minutes, 22 seconds, had the fastest time. WPI's trailing margin of 1 1/2 lengths was the second smallest. 

In the Prince Albert Challenge Cup, WPI's four-person boat lost to Reading University in England. WPI and Yale University were the only two American boats to qualified for the 16-team competition.  Both the Temple Cup and Prince Albert Challenge Cup races will conclude on Sunday, July 5.

Now in its 160th year, the Henley River Regatta  features 468 boats from 15 countries. WPI's appearance wraps up a two-week trip to England that featured racing on the 2012 Olympic course and winning performances at the Reading Town Regatta. WPI, coached by Larry Noble, finished a program-best second at the New England Championships this spring and last October performed well at the historic Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.

The WPI varsity eight rowers are Tobin McGee (Rye, NY), Scott Gary (Lubbock, TX), Hank Moore (Jaffrey, NH), Ben Johnson (Northford, CT), Connor McGrath (Troy, NY), Sebastien Cohn (Orinda, CA), Arthur Gager (Kennebunk, ME), Andrew Sandefer (New Orleans, LA) and coxswain Bethany Bouchard (Nashua, NH).

The varsity four are Nick Vitello (Tolland, CT), Ricky Holak (Windham, NH), Jeff Onderdonk (Colechester, CT), Zack Theoharidis (Sedgwick, ME) and coxswain Brenna Colleary (Southboro, MA).

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI was one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities. WPI's 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, management, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees. WPI's world-class faculty work with students in a number of cutting-edge research areas, leading to breakthroughs and innovations in such fields as biotechnology, fuel cells, information security, materials processing, and nanotechnology. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Perspective Program. There are 25 WPI project centers throughout North America and Central America, Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe.