Minnesota Men’s Crew Take on Nation’s Best in Georgia, Bring Home Gold.

The University of Minnesota Men’s Crew sent 6 boats to the American Collegiate Rowing Association’s (ACRA) National Championship regatta in Gainesville, Georgia last weekend. Highlights of racing included a first place, national championship, finish by the varsity heavyweight men’s four, and a fourth place finish by the varsity men’s lightweight four. The two-day event took place on Lake Lanier, site of the 1996 Olympics rowing events. The national competition included entries from over 60 colleges and universities including all of the Big Ten schools with the exception of Indiana and Wisconsin.

Although rowers usually race in six-boat matchups, race organizers added two racing lanes to the 2000 meter long, 6-lane course in order to accommodate the large number of entrants. Eight boat races and beautiful, sunny weather made the regatta very exciting for spectators this year. In order to advance to the “grand” final, boats were required to finish at the top of a heat or semi-final race. For those that did not qualify to the grand final, second-level “petite” finals as well as “C”, “D”, and sometimes “E” finals were held. The format meant that many crews ended up racing three times over the course of the regatta. Minnesota’s racing was consistently strong throughout the first day of the championships and all boats advanced to the Grand Final or Petite Final for their event.

Strong petite final finishes: In the petite final for the two man, two oars, pairs event, Michael Farrell and Andrew Sattler finished 4^th, beating crews from Penn State, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame and Emory, for a 12^th place finish overall In the the petite final for the Novice eight Minnesota fought hard to pass Kansas in the final 250 meters and just missed beating Emory by only 0.3 seconds at the finish line.  The crew finished in 6^th place in the petite final, just 2.7 seconds, or half of a boat length, out of 3^rd place. Their time of 6:20.4 indicated that the tailwind was strengthening throughout the day. This eight rower event was specifically for rowers either in their freshman year or who are new to the sport.

Top ranked grand final finishes: In the singles event, a rower competes in a boat by themselves, rowing with an oar in each hand. Both John Karlen and Justin Schlitz qualified for the grand final in this event with 23 entries. Karlen finished 6^th and Schlitz placed 8^th in a tough race complicated by rough conditions from a strong tail wind.

The varsity lightweight (160lbs or less) coxed four qualified for the grand final straight out of their heat avoiding a semi-final and securing a full day of rest before their final. The field never broke apart throughout the 2000 meter race and the Minnesota boat fought hard to separate themselves from the slower boats while maintaining contact with the fastest. The lightweights crossed the line in 4^th “bow-to-stern” with a crew from College of William and Mary, and just 2.5 seconds away from a 3^rd place medal. The lightweight crew, consisting of rowers Garrisson Kubis, William Juckett, George Munger and Thomas Grab and senior coxswain Abigail Evans had previously taken bronze at the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia just two weeks earlier.

National championship in heavyweight coxed four: The most exciting race for the Minnesota Men’s Crew was the grand final for the varsity heavyweight coxed four (4+). The boat included three seniors, Tyler Dirks, Michael Srienc and Aidan Hennessey as well as sophomore Luke Yehlen and coxswain Julia Eckert. The heavyweight 4+ was the most highly subscribed event of the championship regatta with 33 entries including boats from Michigan and Penn State. The gopher crew had to fight through a heat and a semifinal to take a spot in the top-ranked grand final.

Within the first 500 meters of the race Minnesota had separated themselves from the pack and were trying to open up a lead on Georgia Tech who was hanging on bow-to-stern with the Minnesota boat. Through the middle thousand meters, Georgia Tech made a series of moves but Minnesota was able to respond stroke-for-stroke to prevent any gains. Coming into the last 500 meters Minnesota had opened up their lead to about one deck-length of open water, meaning Georgia Tech would have to close the gap and make up a whole boat length to cross the line first. Minnesota started their sprint with about 300 meters to go and finished a solid 2.2 seconds ahead of Georgia Tech to win the national title. This result was especially exciting because the crew had narrowly missed a medal at the Dad Vail Regatta.

The Minnesota win was the first ever for the Men’s Crew at the ACRA regatta. The ACRA National Championships have been held since 2008, with Minnesota racing each year. This championship win, along with the 3^rd place medal from the Dad Vail regatta, represent a strong momentum that the Men’s Crew looks to carry through into the 2012-2013 season.

Minnesota Men's Crew is supported by the Sport Clubs program of the University of Minnesota Department of Recreational Sports.