CHERRY Hill, NJ - The Marist Men's Rowing Team started championship weekend this Friday with the Varsity and 2nd Varsity Eights Racing at the Dad Vail Regatta in Cherry Hill, NJ. The crews raced both days in morning trials, leading to afternoon semifinals on Friday and finals on Sunday. All racing took place over a 2000m course on the Cooper River. Conditions were flat and ideal in the morning sessions with a light drizzling rain, while afternoon races saw increased rain and a gradually building tailwind. Saturday races were in sunny but windy conditions with a 10-15mph tailwind that was flat at the start line but choppy at the finish.

The Marist Varsity Eight consisted of Matthew Wright (cox), Tristan Wistuba (stroke), James Hadjandreas (7), Will Shockley (6), Reed Livingston (5), Matthew Roscoe (4), Austin Thomas (3), Charlie Latimer (2), and Thomas Graves (Bow). The V8 placed 5th of 14 crews in the time trial event, about 5 seconds behind St Joe's and within 1 second of the next five crews. In the afternoon, they faced Temple, Colgate, St.Joe's, Stetson, and Delaware in the semi-final. Marist had a strong position in the top 3 after 500m, but in the 2nd 500m, the other teams attacked and left Marist in last by 2-3 seats. Over the 3rd 500m, Marist returned the attacks and was able to reconnect with Colgate and Stetson while pressing away from Delaware. In the final 500m, Marist made a strong sprint and got within four seats of Stetson, but ended up placing 4th overall behind Temple, St.Joe's, and Stetson. With this result, the Varsity Eight progressed to the Petite Final on Saturday, facing Colgate, Delaware, Jacksonville, Loyola, and Western Ontario. This race started evenly, with Marist taking a slight early lead over the field by 1-2 seats. Over the next 1000m, all the crews made bids for the lead, but no one could get enough to break away from the pack. At the 1000m mark, Western Ontario, Loyola, and Jacksonville made strong moves over their own. Western Ontario eked out a four-seat lead on the field. At the same time, Marist fought back hard in the final 500m, bringing it back even with Loyola and Jacksonville, and Delaware bringing it back up even as well for 2nd and taking it to the line for a photo finish between the four crews. The final results were Western Ontario in 1st at 5:52, Marist in 2nd at 5:54.8, Loyola in 3rd at 5:55.0, Delaware at 5:55.2, Jacksonville at 5:56.3, and Colgate at 5:58. With this result, Marist completes the regatta in 8th place overall, with Temple being the top finisher in the Varsity Eight Category.

The 2nd Varsity Eight consisted of Tessa Kurtzman (cox), Jackson Bower (stroke), Adam Wittman (7), Ian Sondhof (6), Nolan Libby (5), Connor Tandy (4), Finn Lyons (3), Liam Klemm (2), and Holden Kopscik (bow). The 2V8 placed 4th of 10 boats in their time trial with a time of 6:02 and progressed to the semifinal, where they faced Drexel, LaSalle, Western Ontario, and Jacksonville. Marist had a fantastic start, leading all crews at the 300m. Drexel and LaSalle got in a heated duel with one another and walked away from the field easily. At the same time, Marist battled against Jacksonville, which repeatedly made charges to challenge but were pressed away by the Marist Crew. The final result was 3rd place for the 2V8 ahead of Western Ontario and Jacksonville and behind Drexel and LaSalle in a time of 6:10. With this result, the 2V8 progresses to the grand final tomorrow at 9:06 am, where they will face Drexel, Temple, LaSalle, St Joe's, and Delaware. Marist had a fantastic start to this race, pulling roughly 2-3 seats ahead of the field in the early meters and quickly getting off the start line. Over the first 1000m of the race, seeding emerged with Temple, Drexel, and LaSalle vying for 1st, Marist and St. Joe's battling for 4th, and Delaware falling off the pace of the rest of the pack. Marist committed to a serious battle with the Crew from St. Joe's, and over the middle 1000m, both crews made significant moves to push the other crew away, with neither backing down. With 500m to go, Marist had maintained a small two-seat lead for most of the race, but Joe's made a punishing early sprint move that Marist could not match and managed to beat Marist to the finish by about four seconds. The final results were Temple in 1st at 5:45.7, Drexel at 5:46.4, LaSalle at 5:46.5, St Joes at 5:58.5, Marist at 6:00.0, and Delaware at 6:10.8. This final result placed Marist at 5th overall for the 2nd Varsity Eight Category.

Coach's Comments: "The V8 and 2V8 had fantastic showings at the Dad Vail Regatta this weekend. We came into the race hoping to get into some good scraps and close races. The crews did just that: setting strong standards in the time trials and delivering highly competitive and well-executed races in the semifinals and finals against tightly packed fields and under pressure. With such a young crew, it was exciting to watch them gaining confidence and speed and improving their execution throughout the weekend, ending in a thrilling sprint finish for both crews. We're excited to head to Worcester tomorrow for our conference championships!" - Campbell Woods, Head Coach Men's Rowing

Marist Rowing will travel to Worcester, MA, on Sunday, May 11, to compete in the NIRC Regatta.

Check out the Marist Rowing Website at this link for complete race results and Coach's Recap Video
https://rowmarist.com/coachs-communication/dad-vail-2025-day-1-update