Oct. 24, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle crew rowed strong races at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta on Saturday, led by a seventh place showing by the men's open four boat.

The men's fours - including Zayln Bajor, Matt Horn, Brett Kader, Andrew Weeks and Jonathan Shank - rowed a 15:32.07 on the Schuylkill River to place seventh out of 36 competing teams in the race. They were also the third collegiate boat to cross the finish line, as four of the top seven were club teams. The Explorers finished just behind two UPenn boats.

Also leading the way for the Explorers was the women's novice eight boat, which placed eighth out of 33 teams. The boat rowed a 17:17.05, and included rowers Anna Washburn, Emma Brown, Kirsten Riley, Katherine Henry, Kellen Burke, Kathleen Fittipaldi, Taylor Engels, Erin Ceccoli and Julianna Granese. They finished ahead of such schools as Navy, Connecticut and Virginia Tech in taking home eighth.

The men's novice eights also rowed a strong race, finishing in the top half of the standings. The Explorers finished 14th out of 29 teams with a time of 15:40.24. Rowing in the novice eight boat was: George McBlain, Matt Schluckebier, Patrick McElroy, Giovanni Finazzo, Michael Hopp, Nick Dillon, John Rosenthal, Kevin North, and Ian DiMatteo.

Several other La Salle boats raced on Saturday, including the men's open club eights which finished 12th out of 30 with a time of 14:19.52, along with the men's pair, men's varsity eight, women's novice four, women's open four and women's varsity eight.

The La Salle rowing team returns to the water on Saturday, Nov. 14th, when the team competes at the Frostbite Regatta on the Cooper River in Camden, NJ.