Crews Fare Well At Crash-B Sprints
March 2, 2001 | Men's Rowing
The Terrier men’s crews performed to their high levels of expectation at the Indoor Crash-B Sprints on Sunday (February 25th) at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, MA. The Crash-B’s is a 2000-meter ergometer race that draws in a large variety of national and international competitors. It is the most popular event of this nature in the world.
The majority of the Terriers posted their fastest scores. The best time was turned in by freshman Jaxon Rudduck, who finished fourth overall in the collegiate division with a time of 6:00.30.
"Everyone knew what he had to do in order to perform at his best, and everyone did it," said junior Kevin Valent, whose 6:15.40 ranked among the Terriers’ top five times.
Mike Strilesky, 6:10.00; John Grogan, 6:13.10; Sean Casavechia, 6:15.30; Kevin Valent, 6:15.40; and Mitch Johnson, 6:24.10 turned in the top five varsity times. Rudduck and classmate James Allgood had the team’s top two scores. Rudduck’s time was the best ever turned in by a Terrier freshman. What’s more, his time also would have beaten two men in the Men’s Open International final, which consisted of national team members from around the world. Allgood was just behind Rudduck with a time of 6:07.80.
"Their performances were awesome," said Valent. "Jaxon beat a bunch of rowers with international status. Most people don’t know what a big deal that is."
"The best part about Jaxon’s score is that it is going to keep improving," said Terrier freshman coach Dave LeFebvre. "He pulls harder every time he is tested. We haven’t seen this guy’s peak yet." The varsity rowers also think that their results at the Crash-B’s make up the positive impression they were looking for heading into spring training. The team leaves for Clemson, SC, this Saturday, March 3rd for a week of intense training and boat selection.
"Crash B’s really put everything into perspective," said sophomore Fran Racioppi. Now we realize where we are in our league and where we have to go to be competitors."
Racioppi also had thoughts about the attitude of the team approaching spring break. "Seeing guys work their hardest this weekend was a major mental boost for the team," he said. "Everyone’s really excited to see how fast we can get in Clemson." The Terrier men’s crew opens its spring racing season by hosting Syracuse on Saturday, March 31st on the Charles River. For further questions or comments, contact head coach Rodney Pratt at (617) 353-9303 or email at rspratt@bu.edu.
