Men's Crew Set for IRA National Championship
May 31, 2006 | Men's Rowing
ON TAP: The Terriers travel to Cherry Hill, N.J., for the 104th annual Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship on the Cooper River from June 1-3. BU will field five boats - varsity eight, second varsity eight, freshman eight, open four and varsity pair. The varsity boat goes into the event unseeded, as only the top 12 teams are seeded and the Terriers held a 15th-place ranking in the last national poll. In the other seeded events, the second varsity eight and freshman eight, BU is seeded eighth and 11th, respectively.
VARSITY EIGHTS: The varsity eight will row in the second of four heats at 7:48 a.m. on Thursday. The top two finishers in each of the heats will advance to either Semifinal 1 or 2 on Friday (12:00, 12:12 p.m.), while the remainder of the field will row in the Repechages on Thursday afternoon (4:48, 5:00, 5:12, 5:24 p.m.). From there, the four crews to win the rep heats will also row in Semifinals 1 or 2, while the 11 others will advance to Semifinals 3 or 4 on Friday (12:24, 12:36 p.m.). The top three in Semifinals 1 and 2 will row for the title in Saturday’s Grand Final (2:00 p.m.), while the bottom three will row in the Petite Final (1:45 p.m.). Meanwhile, the top three in Semifinals 3 and 4 will compete in the Third Level Final (1:33 p.m.) and the bottom three will row in the Fourth Level Final (1:21 p.m.).
The Terrier varsity boat has raced against 13 of the 22 other schools, including three of the five teams in Heat 2. BU has posted wins against Holy Cross (May 21), Columbia (April 22), Dartmouth (April 15) and Rutgers (April 15 and May 21). In Thursday’s heat racing, the Terriers will take on second-seeded California, seventh-seeded Washington, 10th-seeded Cornell, Dartmouth and Rutgers. BU has not raced against Cal or Washington yet this season, while the Terriers lost to Cornell at the Eastern Sprints, and posted wins over both Dartmouth and Rutgers.
SECOND VARSITY EIGHTS: The second varsity eights follow a different format than the first varsity because there are only 17 boats in the competition. The BU contingency will row in the third of three heats on Thursday at 9:48 a.m. The top finisher in each of the three heats will advance directly to the Grand Final on at 1:09 p.m. on Saturday, while the remaining 14 boats will row in one of three Repechages on Friday (11:24, 11:36, 11:48 a.m.). From there, the three Repechage winners will also row in Saturday’s Grand Final, while the second- and third place teams will row in the Petite Final (12:54 p.m.) and the fourth- and fifth-place teams will compete in the Third Level Final (9:06 a.m.).
BU has rowed at least once against nine of the 16 other teams, holding a 7-2 record with wins over Navy (April 21), Dartmouth (April 15 and May 21), Syracuse (April 22 and May 21) and Cornell (May 21). The eighth-seeded Terriers will face second-seeded California, fifth-seeded Wisconsin, 12th-seeded Temple and Georgetown in Heat 3, only having experience versus Wisconsin - a loss on April 30.
FRESHMAN EIGHTS: The freshman eight race will follow the exact same format as the varsity eights, with BU rowing in the third of four heats at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday. The Repechages will take place at 4:00, 4:12, 4:24 and 4:36 p.m. on the same day and the Semifinals will go off at 1:00, 1:12, 1:24 and 1:36 p.m. on Friday. Finally, the Third Level Final will be at 8:54 a.m. on Saturday, followed by the Petite Final at 12:27 p.m. and the Grand Final at 12:42 p.m.
The Terriers have faced 13 of the 24 other teams, posting a 10-6 record with wins over Navy (May 21), Dartmouth (April 15 and May 21), Syracuse (April 22), MIT (May 21), Georgetown (twice on May 21), Rutgers (April 15 and May 21) and Columbia (April 22). In Heat 3, 11th-seeded BU will see third-seeded Penn, sixth-seeded Wisconsin, Navy, Dartmouth and Syracuse, all of which the Terriers have rowed against earlier in the season. Both Penn and Wisconsin came out victorious over BU, while the Terriers beat Navy, Dartmouth and Syracuse.
OPEN FOUR/VARSITY PAIR: BU will also compete in the open four and varsity pair races. The 16-team field for the open fours will follow the same format as the second varsity eights, with the Terriers rowing against Princeton “A”, Brown, Georgetown, Dartmouth and Yale in the third of three heats at 12:12 p.m. on Thursday. The reps will take place at 8:00, 8:12 and 8:24 a.m. on Friday, with the Third Level Final at 8:18 a.m., the Petite Final at 10:14 a.m. and the Grand Final at 10:26 a.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, the varsity pairs will follow the same format as well, as the Terriers row against Rochester, Lehigh, USC, Harvard and Princeton in the second of three heats at 7:12 a.m. on Thursday. The reps will be at 7:24, 7:36 and 7:48 a.m. on Friday, with the Third Level Final at 7:54 a.m., the Petite Final at 9:50 a.m. and the Grand Final at 10:02 a.m. on Saturday.
BU IN THE IRAs: The Terriers had their best varsity eight finish in the current race format last year, when the BU boat garnered sixth place in the nation after placing fourth in the East at the Sprints. Here is a look at where BU has placed in the last 10 years.
2005 - 6th
2004 - 14th
2003 - 18th
2002 - 17th
2001 - 21st
2000 - 19th
1999 - 19th
1998 - 9th
1997 - 10th
1996 - 12th
RECAPPING LAST YEAR: Both the Terrier varsity heavyweight and freshman eight finished sixth in their respective Grand Finals of the 2005 IRAs.
The varsity crew, which was seeded seventh entering the competition, rebounded from a disappointing opening-heat performance to advance to the finals. There, they covered the 2,000-meter course in 5:49.92. Harvard won its third straight IRA title with a time of 5:31.68, while Princeton was second in 5:32.94. Next, in order, came California (5:35.9), Washington (5:37.7) and Northeastern (5:37.97). In the meantime, the freshman eight rowed in 6:02.92. California captured the freshman race with a time of 5:49.94. Harvard was next (5:53.71), with Washington (5:54.04) third. Penn was fourth in 5:57.33 and Princeton was fifth (5:59.94). Finally, the second varsity finished second in the Petite Finals to Harvard. The Crimson boat was clocked in 5:51.63 compared the to the Terriers’ 5:52.98. Princeton trailed both Harvard and BU with a time of 5:55.4, then came Navy (5:56.23), Penn (6:05.7) and Syracuse (6:11.94).
16TH FOR PRATT: This marks the 16th IRAs that BU Head Coach Rodney Pratt will be coaching the Terrier varsity boat, as BU has gone every year during his tenure.
A LOOK AT THE VARSITY: BU’s 1V finished the spring dual season with a 5-4 record, with wins over Dartmouth, then No. 20 Rutgers, No. 19 Columbia, No. 20 Oregon State and MIT. Further, the victories over Dartmouth and Rutgers gave the Terriers their first Bill Cup victory since 1991. Meanwhile, all four losses came to crews that were ranked among the nation’s top 10 at the time of the race, including No. 8 Northeastern, No. 9 Syracuse, No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 4 Brown. The Terriers when struggled with injury at the Eastern Sprints and managed only to finish 12th after entering the race as the eighth seed. The current line-up in the experienced BU boat boasts five seniors (two co-captains) and four juniors.
CHANGING LINE-UP: Although the current varsity line-up includes the same cox and eight oarsmen from the Eastern Sprints (albiet in different seats), the configuration represented much change from the end of the regular season. Jozef Klaassen was out at the Sprints with an illness, who previously rowed in the six seat, Ian Adams moved down to the 2V and both Mike Sugar and Fergus Hodgson came up from the 2V. Although Klaassen has since recovered from a virus, he will join the 2V instead of the 1V.
MASS. NATIVES: Between the varsity and freshman squads, a total of eight rowers hail from the Commonwealth, including Shawn Amand (Marshfield), Cody Gantz (Wayland), Matt Seminerio (Melrose), Matt Trevithick (Hingham), Lukasz Turloski (Boston), Doud Flood (Southborough), Mike Iodice (Weston) and Stefan Seitler (Eastham). Six of the eight (not including Shawn Amand or Doug Flood) are expected to row in the IRAs.
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR: Ten members of the Terrier crew come from countries outside the United States. Coming from Canada are Brandon Bately (Grimsby, Ont.), Michael Cheng (Toronto, Ont.) and Graham Leitch (London, Ont.). From Germany are Andreas Brinck (Essen), Florian Mennigen (Mustin) and Jens Robatzek (Stralsund). Hailing all the way from New Zealand are Fergus Hodgson (Ngaruawahia) and Jozef Klassen (Whakatane). Finally, Meindert Klem comes from Ouderkerk, The Netherlands, and Anthony Mullin is from Morley, England. All 10 are in the line-ups for the IRAs. Meanwhile, 15 of the U.S. states are represented on the overall team, including Massachusetts (8), New York (6), Florida (5), New Jersey (4), California (2), Connecticut (2), Maryland (2), New Hampshire (2), Pennsylvania (2), Colorado (1), Illinois (1), Kansas (1) and Washington (1).
LOCAL TIES: The Terrier IRA line-up includes two rowers from New Jersey in Steven Pytlar (Flemington) of the open four boat and Josh Novak (West Windsor) of the freshman boat. In addition, Chris Klotzbach of the open fours is from Wayne, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia.
TERRIER BOATINGS:
VARSITY 8
c Alex Hasslacher (Sr.)
8 Jens Robatzek (Jr.)
7 Eric Millard (Jr.)
6 Florian Mennigen (Sr.)
5 Mike Sugar (Sr.)
4 Cody Gantz (Jr.)
3 Andreas Brinck (Jr.)
2 Fergus Hodgson (Sr.)
1 William Daly (Sr.)
2ND VARSITY 8
c Andrea Rosmann (So.)
8 Graham Leitch (So.)
7 Brandon Batey (So.)
6 Matthew Trivithick (So.)
5 Ian Adams (So.)
4 Jozef Klaassen (Jr.)
3 Anthony Mullin (Sr.)
2 Lukasz Turolski (So.)
1 Russ Cohn (Sr.)
OPEN 4
c Michael Cheng (Sr.)
4 Matthew Seminerio (So.)
3 Jonathan Czerepak (So.)
2 Steven Pytlar (So.)
1 Jarrod Holiday (Fr.)
VARSITY PAIR
2 Chris Klotzback (So.)
1 Andre Guzman (So.)
FRESHMAN 8
c Devin Maloney (Fr.)
8 Josh Novak (Fr.)
7 Meindert Klem (Fr.)
6 Harrison Macris (Fr.)
5 Joe Bittner (Fr.)
4 Mike Iodice (Fr.)
3 Manuel Portalatin (Fr.)
2 Andrew Roth (Fr.)
1 Stefan Seitler (Fr.)
