The Results

So another fall season has come and gone. Ithaca has already seen some snow and teams are indoors now - for now enjoying the shift to ergs and weight training. We all know that they will soon be looking forward to their chance to get back on the water in Florida. Cornell’s crews saw mixed results this fall - with lightweights reasserting their position atop the lightweight ranks by winning at both the Head of the Charles and Princeton Chase, the heavy’s struggling at Head of the Charles but then delivering solid results as they topped Syracuse at Cornell’s own Autumn Classic, and the women making steady progress under their new coach, Eric Carcich.

As for the alumni, the highlight at the Head of the Charles was a 1st place finish in the Alumni Eights by the BMA entry coxed by Katherine Falb '15, that included Chris Rogers '15, Michael Colella '16, Ryan Allen '15, Eliot Putnam '18, Theo Pritz '15, Thomas Evangelista '14, Kyle Traub '11 and Michael Battagli '18. They topped a field of 48 entries in a time of 15:11! BMA! Also finishing first were Alec Karwoski ‘12 in bow of the USRowing entry that won the Men’s Championship Eights race in a time of 14:50, and Tracy Eisser ‘12 in six for the USRowing entry that won the Women’s Championship Eights event in 16:42. BMA!

Below are the other “top 10” Cornell alumni finishes from the Head of the Charles in race order. Though it’s fair to say that rowing the Head of the Charles is not only about results. In fact, the only important result is that you do well enough to be able to do it all over again the following year!

Saturday, October 20, 2018

Men's Senior Master Eights (50+)
Andy Kalfelz ‘88, Cornell heavyweight coach Todd Kennett ‘91, Jeff Goddard ‘88 and Greg Wilkins ‘86 finished 4th in a field of 63 entries this year. Their Cambridge BC entry covered the course in 15:54 - about 19 seconds off the winning pace.

Despite starting back in 41st, the Diesel AC entry with Cornell’s lightweight coach Chris Kerber teaming up with Tom Murray ‘91 and Bret Gaby ‘92 in a boat coxed by Steve Segaloff ‘92 managed to move up to 10th place in 16:37. It must have felt good to finish two spots and 4 seconds in front of the other Diesel entry coxed by Eric Spector ‘86. For those unfamiliar with Diesel AC, it is borne out of lifelong friendships through high school, college and competition - with athletes connected to Buffalo, NY, Cornell University, and Syracuse University - it was founded by Olympian Tom Murray ‘91 (who, it should be noted was inducted into the Cornell Hall of Fame in 2003).

Women's Senior Master Eights (50+)
Chris Bassler ‘88, coxed the BMA entry of Andrea Thies ‘89, Sandy Dupcak ‘91, Deb Kemper ‘88, Jill Hathaway ‘90, Julie Dickson '94, Emily Mastrianni '89, Sue VanderMeer '90, and Sunny Edmonds '89 to a 4th place finish out of 44 entries, with a time of 18:35, one minute out of first place. This is not the exact crew that won the 1989 Women’s Rowing National Championship - but a close replica. Andrea, another Cornell Olympian, also participated in the awards ceremony as a presenter.

Men's Senior Master Fours (50+)
The Cornell University Alumni entry of Jon Grant '88, Brad Boericke '86, David Stanton '87 and Ivan Rudolph-Shabinsky '86 finished in 3rd place out of 49 entries - with a time of 18:14 - less than one second out of second place and just four seconds out of first - proving (at least to themselves), that last year’s 4th place finish was not a fluke.

Women's Senior Master Double (50+)
Green Mountain Rowing, with Meredity (Haff) Breiland '00 stroking finished 10th of 36 crews in a time of 21:32.

Women's Alumni Eights
The BMA women's eight, coxed by Emma Gelbard '15, with Caitlin McDonnell '15, Tracy Eisser '12, Kate Roach '15, Kelly Albanir '16, Lydia Perkins '16, Ellen Free '13, Elyce Buell '15 and Cecelia Madsen '12 finished 4th of 38 with a time of 17:21 - 52 seconds off 1st place.

Women's Club Eights
Christina Lantuh ‘15 and Caroline Crawford ‘17 rowing with the Potomac Women’s Club Eight that started as bow #25 must have passed some boats as they finished 3rd of 33 with a time of 17:21, less than two seconds out of second place and 11 seconds off the winning time (and interestingly exactly the same time as the BMA entry in the Alumni Eights!).

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Directors' Challenge Women's Quad
Deb Gerardi Kemper '88 rowing for CRI’s "Quadesses" finished in 8th of 35 in a raw time of 20:29 and an age-adjusted time of 19:48, 1:11 our of first.

Directors' Challenge Men's Quad
After medaling in the Cornell University Alumni Senior Masters 4+ on Saturday, John Grant '88 stroked his way to another 3rd place finish out of 36 in the CBC quad - proving he can move sweep and sculling boats! Their raw time of 17:56 was age adjusted to 16:54 - 28 seconds out of first.

Men's Championship Fours
Mike Colella ‘16 in bow in the USRowing entry finished 2nd of 19, 8 seconds off the winning Dutch crew.

That’s it for 2018. But it’s never too early to start training for next year. BMA!