Georgia Tech Crew

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04.21.08 - The Results of 2008 SIRA

Medal Recipients:

NW8-Gold
NML8-Gold
MVL4-Silver
WVL4-Silver
NM8-Bronze
Men’s Team: 3rd Place Team Points .

The Story:

With impressive showings at SIRA, Georgia Tech Crew took a giant step towards elite status among the collegiate rowing community. Georgia Tech had 5 boats appear in Grand Finals races and 2 boats in the Petite Finals, quite an impressive feat, when your team has 8 entries. Even more impressive is the fact that Georgia Tech’s novice teams medaled in every event they entered, with the women’s open eight and men’s lightweight eight taking first, and the men’s heavyweight eight taking third in a very fast Novice-8 event.

The Men’s Varsity Lightweight-8 competed in the Men’s Varsity-8 event. In heats, the varsity men came in third in their heat. First place went Grand Valley State, and Delaware claimed second. In semifinals, the eight rowed what they called, “not their piece” and placed 4th which put them out of the Grand Finals. In the time between the disappointing loss and their Petite Final, the V-8 came together and decided to prove that they deserved to be in the Grand Finals by winning Petites. The next morning they did just that beating second place Delaware by a narrow margin, but pulled the sixth fastest time overall the event.

The Men’s Varsity Lightweight-4 capped off an impressive run by taking the silver medal in their event. In heats they took second to eventual event winner Washington University of St. Louis. In semi-finals they gained confidence and speed and won the semi-final over two quick crews from Stetson and Northwestern State University. In the grand finals the Lightweights closed the gap on Washington U. but couldn’t quite overtake them, losing the race by 4 seconds, but earning a silver medal in the process.

The Varsity Women’s team sent two fours to the race, a lightweight four and an open weight four. The lightweight 4 had a finals only race, but stayed sharp by practicing on the course on Saturday. In their race it was a two-boat race from the get go with Georgia Tech and Tulsa battling for the victory. The lightweight women rowed well, but Tulsa was too much on this day. They are prepared to move on and work hard to contend for gold at Dad Vail. The Open four put forth their best effort but didn’t qualify for Semifinals for the Grand Finals. Then unfortunately inclement weather forced the officials to cancel their C Semifinal race. A race they were confident they could win.

In the Junior Varsity-8 race, Georgia Tech’s men were beat during the last 500 meters by Delaware putting them in fourth place and out of grand finals. The team regrouped after the crushing blow and put together one of their best pieces of the season and took second in their Petite Final finishing just behind Florida Tech’s JV boat and just ahead of the University of Florida.

On the Novice side, Georgia Tech Crew had an unprecedented 3 grand final appearances. First to take to the water were the Novice Women. This weekend was really no challenge to Georgia Tech’s novice women as they easily swept through heats, semifinals, and grand finals, by at least 10 seconds each race. The novice women competed in the Club Novice-8 race, at SIRA and defeated the likes of Purdue, and Philadelphia University two frequent racers in Dad Vail Grand Finals. They went home happy as the first Georgia Tech Novice Women’s team to win SIRA and plenty new shirts.

The Novice Men’s team sent 2 eights to SIRA and came away with Georgia Tech crew’s first medal in the novice heavyweight eight race. The second eight, the novice lightweight men, brought home another medal from their race as well. The Novice Lightweight-8 had a finals only race on Sunday, and we were revved up all weekend cheering for each Georgia Tech boat as it passed by on Saturday. Originally the field included St. Joseph’s University, Texas, Purdue, and UNC, but St. Joe’s and Texas scratched from the event. The novice lightweight’s used their smooth stroke and excellent swing to clearly beat the three remaining crews.

The Heavyweights had extremely tough draws in heats, semifinals, and grand finals but found a way to battle through all the races and gain more speed as the weekend went on. A testament to the superb coaching and iron will to win that is omnipresent in Georgia Tech Crew. In heats they had to place in the top four and ended up taking second to first place Delaware, who ended up winning the event, and ahead of Marietta. In semis they faced off against UVA, Marietta, and Purdue 3 teams which regularly produce very fast crews. They found a way to gain more speed and nearly caught UVA in the last 250 meters of the race but still took second place in their semifinal and moved on. In the Grand Finals, the Men had an incredible dogfight for 2nd-5th place, with Delaware clearly leading the pack. UVA, Georgia Tech, Texas and UNC were all battling for those last two medal spots. UVA edged them out by less than a second, and Georgia Tech’s novice took home the bronze medal. Congratulations to all 3 novice teams on making Georgia Tech Crew history.

04.06.08 - Georgia Tech Crew Boat Christening

When: April 6th
Where: GT crew Boathouse in Roswell, GA ... Click here for directions
Time: 2pm
Why: Two new boats (eight shells) will be christened in honor of G. Wayne Clough (Georgia Tech President) and Rosalind Meyers (GT Crew Advisor) as well as a pair donated by Ron and Pat Pohl.

04.06.08 - Several Fall Regatta Results

Chattanooga Head Race (Chattanooga, TN) (10/13):
Novice men’s 8+ : Silver
Novice men’s 4+: Bronze
Women’s lightweight 4+: Gold
Men’s lightweight 4+ : Silver, Bronze
Men’s champ 8+ : Gold
Men’s 2- : Gold, Silver, Bronze
Women’s Open 1x: Bronze
Women’s Open Novice 1x: Gold

Total: 4 Gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze
Overall team points trophy winner.

Head of the Charles (Boston, MA) (10/20-10/21):
Mens’ club 4+: 30th
Women’s club 4+: 13th
Men’s collegiate 8+: 15th
Men’s lightweight 8+: 22nd

Head of the Tennessee (Knoxville, TN) (10/20):
Men’s novice 4+: Silver
Women’s lightweight 1x: Silver
Men’s Novice 8+: Gold
Women’s 2-: Gold
Women’s Novice 4+ : Gold
Men’s Champ 8+: Bronze

Total: 3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze
Overall team points trophy winner.

08.20. 07 - First Varsity Team Meeting

WHERE: CRC Room 251
WHEN: Monday, August 20th from 6-8pm
WHAT TO BRING: Your class schedules.

IN THE NEWS

05.07.07 - Countdown to Dad Vails

03.17.07 - Race Recap: Clemson Sprints

03.10.07 - Race Recap: SERCS

03.04.07 - Race Recap: A-Town Challenge

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL GEORGIA TECH BOATS THAT COMPETED AT THE 2007 DAD VAIL REGATTA!
Here are the results for this year's final team regatta for Georgia Tech!

Dad Vail Regatta (click to see official results) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Men's Varsity Lightweight Eight	GOLD
Women's Varsity Pair	SILVER
Men's Varsity Heavyweight Four	SILVER
Men's Frosh Novice Lightweight Eight	SILVER

05.07. 07 - Countdown to Dad Vails (re-posted from GT CREW Alumni blog)

The heat sheet for Dad Vails 2007 has just been posted.

Georgia Tech Crew is taking 9 boats to Philadelphia this year.

The Men's Varsity Heavyweight Four (A. Nichols, S. McLeskey, M. Gaston, T. Maryak, M. Fong) will be starting things off Friday morning in Heat 9 against Toronto, Merchant Marine, George Mason and Vermont. (2 to semis, 49 entries) Michael Gaston and GT Crew were recently featured on the CBS evening news highlighting Gaston's determination to row at Dad Vails after breaking his hand over spring break. Also watch out for Austin Nichols and Sean McLeskey as they hone their bisweptual skills, having recently switched sides.

The Women's Varsity Heavyweight Four (J. Pohl, A. Breedlove, J. Furman, B. York, J. Goldstayn) faces some stiff competition in Heat 2 against Northwestern St. LA, Chicago, Drexel, Rochester and Johns Hopkins. (2 to semis, 51 entries)

The Men's Varsity Pair (R. Lampert, K. Covert) will compete against Merchant Marine, Rollins, Maryland and Carnegie Mellon in Heat 4. (3 to semis, 34 entries)

The Women's Varsity Pair (M. Williams-Davis, A. Martell) continues their undefeated conquest for gold in Heat 4 against Vermont, Iona, Oklahoma City and Chattanooga. (3 to semis, 25 entries) The pair has won at SERCS (even beating out SCAD's men), Clemson Sprints, Lanier Sprints, and SIRA (against a significantly larger Tampa pair).

The Men's Varsity Lightweight Four (M. Braza, J. Spoerke, T. Chambliss, R. Williams, P. Marino) will compete in the afternoon in Heat 4 against American U, Boston College, Lafayette and Vassar. (3 to semis, 25 entries)

The Men's Frosh/Novice Heavyweight Eight will battle it out against Vermont, Penn State, Delaware and Northwestern in Heat 5. (3 to semis, 28 entries)

The Women's Frosh/Novice Heavyweight Eight (R. Kelly, L. Deaton, B. Caspersen, C. Iversen, S. Dutton, K. Geldbach, M. Curtis, R. Gray, J. Bracco) will compete against Santa Barbara, Army, Purdue, Grand Valley, and Villanova in Heat 2. (3 to semis, 36 entries)

The Men's Varsity Lightweight Eight (J. Kapteyn, C. Troxel, E. Holsenbeck, M. Wildes, N. Grivas, C. Kamin, M. Pieper, V. Wilkes, T. Mara) is planning a repeat performance from last year, competing against Purdue, Jacksonville and Lehigh in Heat 3. (2 to finals, 13 entries)

The Men's Frosh/Novice Lightweight Eight has a final only on Saturday against Ohio State, Dayton, Florida Tech, Lehigh and Purdue.

We look forward to seeing the DC and Philadelphia alumni this upcoming weekend! Let's go Tech!

03.17.07 - Race Recap: Clemson Sprints
(re-posted from GT CREW Alumni blog)

Spring Break 2007 was yet another successful week on the high seas of Panama City. Most of the team headed straight up from Florida to South Carolina to play with some tigers on Saturday. The varsity men opted to leave those cats alone at least for one week.

The adventures began when the trailer broke down in who knows where Alabama/Georgia leaving the ATL to Clemson trailer crew stranded in Atlanta at the whims and fancies of Mr. Spike (aka one long night). The trailer left Atlanta at 4am and arrived at Clemson 15 minutes before the women’s pair race—running with unis in hand to change and a quick rig later, the pairs made it on the water without a moment to spare. The classic “Georgia Tech you’re late!” warning having been issued, it was time for business. The two pairs established the lead in front of Clemson, Tennessee and Stetson. About 500m into the race, the B pair had a bit of a snag in their race plan—stroke seat’s blade stuck and unmoving, a clam had become ensnared in the oarlock. Stroke quickly dislodged the clam and chucked it across Lake Hartwell. At this point the B pair had fallen into 4th place, the A pair continuing to open water on the competition. The B pair moved up on the 2nd and 3rd place boats the rest of the course, but ran out of time, keeping them 3 seconds out of a medaling position. The A pair won the event by a significant amount of open water.

Meanwhile Curt Browder and Austin Nichols were representing in the open single, both winning their respective flights (40 and 4 seconds in front—both very impressive!) Browder and Nichols later took out the pair, defeating Stetson, Charleston and 3 Clemson pairs, adding a couple gold medals to the count.

The varsity women brought the pairs back in and immediately took out the four. The boat established itself in a close third to Stetson and NCSU, held onto the two boats during their moves and plowed through in the last 500m to an open water victory in front of Stetson, NCSU, Wake Forest and SCAD.

The novice women’s 8 placed 2nd to a very fast UGA crew in heats. Their stroke had to be taken to the hospital shortly after so the boat was unable to race in finals.

Michelle Williams-Davis and Amie Martell beat each other up in the open single, trading the lead in the two halves of the race and ultimately taking the gold and silver respectively in front of a Stetson single.

The Men’s Novice 8 after winning their heat by a few boat lengths took home the gold in the final, in front of Williams and SCAD with a tight 5 second spread between the three boats.

The Novice Women’s 4 faced tough competition in their flight against a very quick Stetson four and placed 4th behind Georgia State and Northwestern.

The Novice Men put out two fours placing second and third in their respective flights. The A four narrowly missed first to Clemson by .75 seconds, beating NCSU, Georgia State’s A boat, Williams and UGA. The B four came in third to a fast Chattanooga Rowing and Georgia State boat, beating USC and Berry.

The Varsity Women took out the V8 next marking the third to fourth race for most of the crew and the helpful addition of 3 novice rowers, taking 4th in heats to Clemson, UGA’s lightweights and SCAD.

7 golds, a couple silvers and a bronze later, the team returned to Atlanta more than exhausted but ready for the racing season ahead.

Complete results here.

03.10.07 - Race Recap: SERCS
(re-posted from GT CREW Alumni blog)

After the scrimmage against UGA at Fort Yargo, the team headed to another UGA hosted event, SERCS (Southeastern Regional Collegiate Sprints) in Aiken, SC.

UGA describes the event:

"Categorized as a club sport under the University's Recreational Sports Department, UGA Rowing is a self-directed endeavor. Now a 501(c)6 non-profit organization, the team operates with an annual budget of approximately $150,000, receiving very limited funds from the University. The team must accomplish a tremendous amount of fundraising in order to supplement the difference. In order to try and meet this need, the idea of hosting SERCS was born.

The Southeastern Regional Collegiate Sprints (SERCS) Regatta was first held March 11, 2000 and was hosted by UGA Crew coaches, officers and team members. The race was originally held at the 1996 Olympic-training site in Elberton, Ga. within Richard B. Russell State Park. An immaculate course design was implemented for several years following its original use by the Olympic teams, but unfortunately was left to deteriorate over time. Four members of UGA Rowing attempted to reuse what was left of the original course while making the modifications necessary to lie out a very straightforward 2000-meter course for spring racing. While offering a great venue for racing, UGA Rowing elected to move its home regatta from Elberton in the spring of 2004. With tremendous guidance and support from Aiken County Parks and Recreation and Brian Sanders, the SERCS Regatta is now pleased to call Langley Pond its home.

SERCS is held as a fundraising endeavor for the UGA men's and women's rowing teams, as well as an opportunity to bring great competition together for a remarkable day of racing. Every spring since 2000, teams fill the water with racing shells from places near and far. Teams have included Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Clemson University, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Savannah College of Art and Design, University of Alabama, Auburn University, Emory University, Bucknell University, Skidmore College, Manhattan College, SUNY-StonyBrook and many others."

The Varsity Men put out a fleet of eights, fours, pairs and singles winning 9 medals for Georgia Tech. In the Lightweight 4 event, the A boat brought home the gold with the B boat also qualifying for finals. Georgia Tech made its presence known in the single with four entries. Austin Nichols won the event with Jonathan Spoerke taking home the bronze. The Men’s Champ 4 won a bronze medal. The men also swept the pair event taking the top three spots, vying for first place in a drag race in the last 250m. The Men’s Champ 8 won their event with the Lightweight 8 also medaling, taking third to RIT.

The Illustrious Lightweight Men

The Varsity Women due to last minute scheduling changes had to switch the lineups for the double and pair events and still managed to win both, highlighting the squad’s versatility in small boats. The women’s pair even beat out SCAD’s men. The women also raced a fairly novice four in the Champ 4 event, taking 4th in heats. The Champ 8, featuring three novice and alumna Rebekah Henry took 3rd in heats and 6th in the final.

The Novice Men put two 8’s and two 4’s on the water. After winning their heat, the Novice 8 A boat won their event with the B boat taking 4th in heats. Both the Novice 4’s won their heats. The A boat won the event and the B boat placed 6th in finals.

The Novice Women brought home a silver medal in the Novice 8 event to UGA.

Pictures courtesy of FrancisDJ.com and Alex Breedlove

Check the GT CREW Alumni blog or the Archived News on the right for old news!