CAMDEN, NJ (6/05/04) - The Saint Joseph's men's rowing team advanced all three of its boats, a Freshman 8, Freshman 4 and Varsity 4, to Saturday's Finals of the IRA Regatta on the Cooper River. The Hawks Varsity Four advanced to the Grand Final, placing fourth in the nation, the Freshman 4 won the Petite and the Freshman 8 placed third in the Third Final. Click for complete race results and for IRA Regatta Information.

The Varsity 4+ was composed of Matt Mullin, Ray Cawley, Jon Joyce, Dan Fazio and Charlie Koob. The crew, which had not raced all season prior to the event, placed third in its heat and second in its repechage on Thursday to reach Friday's semifinals. In the semis, the Hawks rowed 6:46.90 to place third behind Michigan and Harvard, and advanced to Saturday's Grand Final and a chance at a National title. The V4 rowed a solid race on Saturday covering trhe course in 6:58.83 and placing fourth behind Washington, George Washington and Michigan, while defeating Hobart and Harvard.

The Freshman 4+ of Pete Coppinger, Blake Schiller, Mike Jacob, Bill Fox and Jacqui Hopkinson (cox) advanced won the Petie Final after a strong week of racing. The Frosh 4 placed fourth in its opening heat, but then posted a victory over Georgetown, Boston University and Virginia in its repechage. A sixth place finish in the semifinals qualified SJU for the Petite. The Hawks delivered a strong effort on Saturday posting the event's fifth fastest finals time. The Crimson and Gray topped the field that included North Carolina, Marist Wisconsin, Michigan and Navy in a time of 7:09.21 to place seventh in the nation.

The Freshman 8 of Adrian Gherca, Dave Naab, Sean Flynn, Dan Lachant, Jeff Schaetzle, Wayne Zimmer, Andrew Friedlander, Alex DiBiasi, Stephanie Gehringer (cox) placed fourth in its heat and third in Thursday's repechage. SJU then won its semifinal to advance to Saturday's Third Level Final. In the final, SJU placed third behind Oregon State and Washington, but ahead of Michigan, Georgetown and Hobart in a time of 6:37.84 and finishing 15th in the nation.