Columbus, OH – Two weeks after a humbling race at the Head of the Ohio, the John Carroll University Rowing Team made a simple commitment for the final race of the season: work harder, get faster. With this in mind every single practice, the Blue Streak Crew steadily improved all aspects of their rowing and their results showed.
The Men’s Varsity Four (Shawn Cain, Devin Eicher, Anthony Miano, Matt Knestrick, and coxswain Kate Schaefer) entered the Speakmon Memorial Regatta with high expectations. The crew, consisting of three novices and one veteran, came off the starting line at a high 32 strokes per minute with a rock solid set. Their boat speed was fast as the crew was holding off powerhouse Dayton. As the Blue Streak Varsity Four was moving through Case Western University near the 2000 meter mark, the Case boat lost its rudder and steered directly into the JCU boat. The collision caused the boat to lose its course and eventually go to a complete stop, losing nearly a minute of time. Eventually, the four pulled out and finished the race with a vengeance, maintaining their incredibly high rate and boat speed. The crew made up a lot of time and were still able to earn 11th out of 17, and 5th out of 9 colleges.
Immediately following the Men’s Varsity race, Shawn Cain and Anthony Miano returned to the water to join Clay Morgan, Mike Dombroski, and coxswain Karen Stetner in the Men’s Novice Four. With half the boat exhausted, the boat still seemed poised to attain a good result. Rowing at a rate of around 26 strokes per minute, the novice men initially pushed deep into the lead boat from Cleveland State. As the race progressed and fatigue set in, the men began to lose their momentum and let the CSU crew retain their initial spread and found themselves being walked by Ohio University. In the end, the crew finished 3rd out of 5 college only boats, and less than a second behind CSU.
Women’s Racing commenced with the girls Varsity Four (Maddy Culbertson, Kayla Salomone, Megan Hamlin, Steph Fair, and cox Kate Schaefer). The young boat of three novices and two second year rowers represented the team in fine style, posting a 3rd place finish of 5 college teams. They were less than 20 seconds from perennial winner Cincinnati and only 10 seconds behind 2nd place Ohio University The crew had their best race of the season, even earning accolades from several coaches on land commenting about their crisp technique and great efficiency. Though they were not in the same event, the Blue Streak girls’ time of 21:26 was 20 seconds faster than Case Western Reserve’s women, the same boat that beat the JCU women at the Head of the Cuyahoga by 20 seconds. The 40 second improvement was another example of the team’s tremendous effort.
The Women’s Collegiate Novice Four (Lauren Penkola, Cathleen Morris, Genna Losinski, Cassie Jaksic, and coxswain Karen Stetner) highlighted the University’s name with a team best 1st place out of three boats, beating hometown rivals Cleveland State and Case Western by nearly a minute. The girls showed varsity style power and slide control, and they looked very fluid as they rowed by the spectator area rowing at a rate of 26 strokes per minute. The Women’s Novice Four actually raced with the Women’s Varsity fours but their time was counted with the novice event. The Gold Medal performance was a testament to the great preparation of the novice girls and the direction of coaches Amanda DiNunzio and Jaclyn Kiaser.
The main event of the day, the Women’s Collegiate Eight, began their race in a similar fashion as the Men’s Novice Four. Seven of the girls from the fours race (Maddy Culbertson, Kayla Salomone, Megan Hamlin, Steph Fair, Lauren Penkola, Genna Losinski and cox Kate Schaefer) joined Connie DiBacco and Sarah Horan in the main event. The girls executed their race plan to perfection from the start but encountered growing winds as the race went on. The conditions and fatigue caused some occasional rowing splices, but each time the women recovered and pushed forward with the Ohio University Women sitting on their stern. Holding a rate of about 28 beats per minute and looking long in the water, then women finished 3rd out of 4 boats. The boat of half novices competed well and showed demonstrated the potential of the JCU women in the future.
The Speakmon Memorial Regatta concluded the season for the JCU Rowing team. As a rebuilding period, the fall went extremely well with all boats making incredible progress. The team begins its first winter training under new head coach, Ron Dorchak, and will participate in several indoor rowing competitions throughout the winter in preparation for spring racing.