May 12, 2012

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's men's rowing team earned a bronze medal in the Lightweight 8 at the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River. It was the Hawks' first medal in that event since 2010.

The Hawks, under first-year head coach Mike Irwin, won their heat to advance to Saturday's final, where SJU clocked a 6:22.55 to finish behind Mercyhurst and Delaware. SJU's crew was comprised of: c- Brandon Ciccone; 8- Tom Garry; 7- Mike Sheehan; 6- Brandon Hanna; 5- Sean Stewart; 4- Matt Benedetto; 3- Justin Gentile; 2- Nick Hoell; 1- Chris Young

Saint Joseph's Second Varsity 8 placed third in its heat and then took sixth in the Grand Final, which was won by Michigan. That lineup was: c- Rob Gilroy; 2- David Robinson; 1- Matt Johnson.

"Our goal as a program from day one was to get all of our eights in Grand Finals at the Dad Vail and have the opportunity to bring home medals. Our Lightweight 8+ put up a strong fight in the first half against Mercyhurst and Delaware. We couldn't match them all the way to the finish but we did a good job of holding off a charge from Michigan to win the bronze medal," said Irwin. "The Varsity 8+ was upset they did not perform well enough in the semis to earn a spot in a finals race on Saturday afternoon. We always believed we had a better speed in us but never found the consistency in practice to achieve it. We have depth for the future - the Second Varsity made the grand final for the first time in four years and we only graduate three seniors from the two heavyweight boats."

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