May 9, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's men's rowing team enters the 2007 Dad Vail Regatta as the two-time men's team champion and will defend its title this weekend on the Schuylkill River, May 11-12, in the nation's largest collegiate regatta.

In 2006, the Hawks affirmed their status among the nation's elite by capturing the Dad Vail men's points title (Kerr Trophy) for the third time in four years and won the Bratten Trophy as the Regatta's overall champion for the second consecutive season.

Last year, SJU won the Freshman 8 and the Lightweight Freshman 8 races and scored second-place finishes in the 2nd Varsity 8 and the Lightweight 8.

Heading into the 2007 Regatta, the Hawks are seeded first in the Freshman 8, having beaten all of the top crews thus far, with the only losses (3) to non-Dad Vail schools. The Freshman 8 is coming off consecutive wins in the Bergen Cup and the SIRA Championship.

The Lightweight 8 is seeded second, having raced the top three crews at the SIRA Championship a few weeks ago, finishing second only to top-seed Mercyhurst by a tenth of a second.

"We have high expectations for the weekend. The Second Varsity 8 has finally been able to row the same lineup for the past two weeks and as a result is getting faster every day," said coach Drew Hill. "Our Varsity 8 is peaking at just the right time and rowing extremely well. The Freshman 8 is the favorite and the Lightweight 8 race should be one of the most exciting of the regatta."

A total of 119 colleges and universities will face off on the Schuylkill River on Friday and Saturday, May 11-12. Competition begins at 7 a.m. both days.

For more information on the Regatta, including parking, along with complete results, click here, or go to www.dadvail.org.

SJU Lineups:

Varsity 8: c-Stephanie Gehringer; stroke-Gavin Adams; 7-Alex DiBiasi; 6-Sean Flynn; 5-Jack Drewniak; 4-Glenn Griffin; 3-Dan Lachant; 2-Andrew Friedlander; bow-Sean King

Lightweight 8: c-Lauren Moran; 8-Jon Schneckenburger; 7-Kevin Burrows; 6- Steve Ramsey; 5-Adam Stoll; 4-Marc Mallott; 3-William West; 2-Jordan Marwin; 1-Kevin Jacobs

Freshman 8: c-Trevor Curran; 8-Ryan Huck; 7-Adam Iaccio; 6-Sean Blom; 5-Max Schipper; 4-Tim Strybuc; 3-Dave Lemon; 2-Mike O'Rourke; 1-Conor Malone

Second Varsity 8: c-Sarah Jost; 8-Jeff Schaetzle; 7-Mike Wingrove; 6-Bill Fox; 5-Wayne Zimmer; 4-Brett Cavanaugh; 3-Kevin Connors; 2-Brendan Blessington; 1-Chris Garafalo

Schedule for SJU men's and women's teams:

Friday- Heats: