PHILADELPHIA (10/12/02) - The Saint Joseph's men's rowing team took to the Schuylkill River on Saturday, opening its season at the competitive Navy Day Regatta. The freshman 8 highlighted the day for the Crimson and Gray by winning gold in their event, while the varsity Lightweights captured a bronze medal. The Freshman Heavyweight 8, which included John Hayes (cox), Devlin Murdock, Dan Fazio, Mike Leahy, Evan Pierc, Justin Jones, George Gantner, Rhys Hora and Sean O'Hara, winning their event in a time of 12:47,10 seconds ahead of second place Navy and scorching the field that included four Penn boats, Delaware and three Navy crews. The Freshman Lightweights finished 5th in the heavyweight 8 and were the first Freshman Lightweight 8 to finish. The Hawks finished ahead of Penn's Lights and Navy's Lights with a time of 13:11. The Varsity 8 had a tremendous row as well finishing 4th in the very competitve field just seven seconds behind Temple and two seconds ahead of 2002 Dad Vail Champion Dowling College and 18 seconds ahead of Penn's first eight. The Varsity Lightweight 8 finished a strong 3rd, just six seconds behind first place Navy. The Dad Vail 8 rowed a good race as well finishing 4th by time, but we recieved a few penalties and were disqualified.