Oct. 20, 2010

PHILADELPHIA - One of the all-time great crews in Saint Joseph's men's rowing will be honored by the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta (HOSR) to recognize the 40th anniversary of the Hawks' Varsity 8 that captured the 1970 Dad Vail championship. The celebration will take place on Saturday, October 30 at this year's regatta.

The Hawks' Varsity 8 is featured in the HOSR program in the "Legends of Boathouse Row" section, written by Paul Laskow '70, who rowed the two seat in the boat.

The 1970 Saint Joseph's Varsity 8+ will serve as the sponsor of the Men's and Women's Open Club 8+ and will award the medals to the winners of those events on Saturday.

The SJU men's rowing team will also honor the 1970 crew by naming the new Vespoli V1 Lightweight 8 scull as the "1970 Dad Vail V8 Champions" in a dedication on Saturday, October 30 at 10:30 a.m. at the Gillin Boathouse.

The 1970 Varsity 8 is the only Saint Joseph's crew to win that event to date. Eight of the nine crew members are expected to attend the festivities, and possibly row again together in the HOSR Master's Race at noon.

The 1970 Varsity 8+ was starboard stroked by Paul Rudolph ('74) and then in the 7-seat was Mike Fitzgibbons ('71), followed by Jack Kowalski ('71), Gerry Daly ('71), Jim Henwood ('71), Ed Lalley ('71), Paul Laskow ('70) and Jim Glavin ('69). Bob Jaugstetter ('70) was the coxswain.

Joining the celebration will be some members of the Hawks' Varsity 4+, which also took home Dad Vail gold in 1970. That victory was the second consecutive for SJU's Varsity 4+ at the prestigious event. Members of that boat scheduled to be in attendance are Rich Ahern '71, Chris Lehman '71 and Herb Richardson '73. Richardson, who just retired from a senior position in the U.S. Department of Energy, was the first African-American to win a gold medal in U.S. and International Rowing competition.