BOSTON, Mass. - The largest competitive rowing regatta in the world, the Head of the Charles (HOCR) has been a fixture in the fall racing calendar since its inception as a small collegiate event in 1965 when Marist oarsmen participated in the first iteration of the regatta. Now grown into an international rowing phenomenon, the regatta takes place over three days, always on the third weekend of October, with over 11,000 competitors and over 350,000 spectators lining the banks of the Charles River to cheer on the racers. Racing at the event takes place over a roughly 5 kilometer course through a winding section of the river in a "head race" or time trial format where each crew starts in single file attempting to compete the course in the fastest possible time.

The events for the Marist men began on Saturday with the racing of our Alumni crews in the Alumni Eights and the Club Eights Categories.

The Alumni Eight 
The crew was composed of:
Ryan Lillis (Class of '18 Coxswain), Gavin Crouch (Captain Class of '24, Stroke Seat), Chris Carlson (US National Team Member and Olympic Medalist, Class of '19, 7 seat), Morgan Stippa (Class of '18, 6 seat), Tadd Bindas (Captain Class of '19, 5 Seat), Jordan Irving (Captain, Class of '22, 4 Seat), Axel Anderegg-Durwood (Class of '24, 3 Seat), Ray Mattingly (Captain Class of '19, 2 Seat), Alexander Missert (Class of '22, Bow Seat).

This crew represented and highlighted some of the strongest and most talented leaders from the last 10 campaigns headlined by Chris Carlson who rowed for Marist in the 2016 and 2017 campaigns, graduated from the University of Washington in 2019 and has been a member of the United States Senior and U223 National Teams since 2017. Chris earned a bronze medal at the olympics at Paris in 2024 and agreed to row with his former Red Fox crew mates for the Charles this fall. The crew started in the 18^th position and STORMED through the race course passing high level teams from The University of Wisconsin, Michigan University, and Syracuse University and post a time of  14:58.8 and earning 7^th place in a field of 48 crews. Brown University won the event with a time of 14:21.5

The Club Eight
The crew was composed of
Claire Connally (Class of '20, Coxswain), Dmitrey Guenther (Captain Class of '21, Stroke), Brendan McLaughlin (Class of '17, 7 seat), Matthew Blaszczyk (Class of '20, 6 seat), Kevin Coomey (Class of '18, 5 seat), Liam Cusack (Captain Class of '23, 4 seat), Sam Klamar (Class of '17, 3 seat), Jake Addison (Class of '25, 2 seat), Thomas Graves (Class of '25, Bow)

This crew also represented some fantastic talented oarsmen from Marist's recent past. Competing in an open category the crew performed well posting a time of  16:21.8 and passing Chicago Rowing Club while racing to take 26^th place in a field of 36 crews. Dartmouth University's 3^rd Varsity Eight won the event in a time of 14:21.8

Racing continued on Sunday with Marist's current oarsmen racing in the Collegiate Eight and Collegiate Four categories.
The Collegiate 4+
The Collegiate Four Boat Consisted of
Evie Disque (coxswain), Ian Sondhof (stroke), Austin Thomas (3), James Hadjadreas (2), and Jackson Bower (bow). 

The crew rowed a strong racing opening with fast splits that placed them in the top 2-4 boats and passing several crews during the piece. The crew fell slightly off the pace for a medal in the later part of the piece however and finished with a time of 16:31.1 to place 7^th of 40 crews. Jacksonville won the event in a time of 16:03.6

The Collegiate Eight
The collegiate eight crew consisted of
Tessa Kurtzman (cox), Will Shockley (stroke), Ryan Tuttle (7), Charlie Latimer (6), Reed Livingston (5), Kevin Murray (4), Matthias Topping (3), Tristan Wistuba (2), and Nick Scarano (bow).

This crew also came out of the gate very strong posting times that placed them in the top 3 crews over the first 3 time splits and passing the Williams College 2^nd varsity who had started in front of them within the first 1500meters of the race course. Unfortunately the Marist Crew was delayed by the 2^nd varsity eight from Wesleyan who refused to yield to the Red Foxes over taking them on a particularly technical part of the race course. The crew went slightly slower through the final turns to post a time of 14.48.6 and place 8^th out of the  42 crews in the event. The winning time was posted by Holy Cross who won the event in 14:25.5

Coach's Comments:
"The Head of the Charles remains a fixture in the Marist Rowing Calendar after 60 amazing years of competition and the 2025 edition was one for the ages. Perfect weather combined with excellent competition to build crowds well in excess of the 300,000 that has become the norm for this event. Our alumni racing on Saturday not only gave us an opportunity to meet with old friends and share fond memories but to demonstrate a masterclass of the hard work, teamwork, and passion for the sport that make Marist Rowing so special. Sunday's racing saw boat crews improve their positions with the four moving up two places from last year's 9^th and the varsity eight moving up 13 positions over last fall's 21^st. Throughout the weekend the coaching staff also met with over 50 prospect recruits from the HS classes of 2026 and 2027 making the event a true celebration of Marist Rowing's past, present, and future. We're excited to jump into the remainder of our fall racing calendar in the next two weeks and see what improvements we can make on our racing performance!" Campbell Woods - Head Coach of Marist University Men's Rowing Team



NEXT UP: Marist's men's crew will be racing this coming weekend on Saturday, October 25th at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta in Philadelphia PA.