BOSTON (10/19/03) - The Saint Joseph's men's rowing team reaffirmed its status as one of the East's top program's over the weekend with a strong effort by its Varsity and Freshman 8 boats at the Head of the Charles over the weekend. The V8 finished fourth in a field of 40 crews, while, the frosh placed 14th out of 50. The varsity men rowed in the College 8 event and took a fourth place out of the field of 40 colleges from across the country, finishing in a time of 15:23.97. The fourth place finish guaranteed SJU a spot in next year's Head of the Charles. The Varsity 8 had personnel changes from Navy Day and will have more for the Head of the Schuylkill this weekend. Several of the team's 'more experienced' rowers were ineligible for the College Event after winning the petit final at the IRA last spring. The Freshman 8 came out strong and were in the hunt through the Riverside boathouse, but were interfered with as we passed a crew at the Eliot Bridge. The crew forced us into the bridge and into clashing oars with another boat. The set back cost the SJU about 28 seconds. After regrouping the Hawks held their position on the leader but the deficit was too great to close. We finished 14th out 51 with a time of 16:13.6. The Hawk men and women return to the water on Saturday at the Head of the Schuylkill.