United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Men's Crew - All Four Boats Make Grand Finals at NE Championships

WORCESTER, MASS.--(5/4/08)--Coast Guard showed its depth and overall team speed by placing all four boats into the Grand Finals at the New England Rowing Championships held Sunday under wet conditions at Lake Quinsigamond.

The men’s novice team put in very strong performance in their Grand Final and took third place in a time of 6:21.3. This performance put the CGA novice men in a great position for the upcoming ECAC National Invitational Championship. The Novice 8 included Hilary Grimes (Fr), Nick Greaver (Fr), John Olbrys (Fr), Dave Kent (Fr), Austin King (Fr), Brian Bonomi (Fr), Dave Birdsong (Fr), Corbin (Fr) and Alex Schmidt (Fr).

The men’s second varsity 8 qualified into the Grand Final from the morning heats and in an exciting race, missed the Bronze Medal by only 0.4 seconds. The Bears 2V included Courtney Elder (Fr), Riley Matsco (So), Dan Halsig (Jr), Andrew Haley (Jr), Dan Swaim (So), Joe Direnzo (So), Sam Merritt (So), Sven Johnson (So), and Nick Jokela (So).

The Men’s Varsity 8 qualified for the Grand Finals with a strong performance in the heat, but couldn’t match the speed of the strong field and finished 6th. They will look to best their performance next weekend at the ECAC National Invitational. The Varsity 8 was comprised of Andrew Slater (So), Matt Vanderslice (Sr), Thomas Olsen (So), Nick Iannarone (Jr), Tomas Mameniskis (Jr), Kristopher Kesting (So), Philip Constantino (So), Roy Cromer (So), and Tomas Naujokaitis (Jr).

The men's Varsity Four held off charging Trinity and Fairfield crews to finish first in the heats and qualify for the Grand Final. In the afternoon, in another exciting race, the Bears missed narrowly missed medaling, only two seconds behind both the 2nd and 3rd place crews. The Four consisted of Bailea McMillen (Fr), Bryan Kelly (Jr), Evan Steckle (So), Tenor Galamabush (Sr), and James Heuser (So).

All boats will return to Lake Quinsigamond next weekend, looking to improve their performances and race their way to the medal stand at the ECAC National Invitational.