ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Ithaca College men's rowing team traveled to Rochester, New York to compete in their first race of the season. The Head of the Genesee Regatta hosts teams mostly from the upstate New York area giving the Bombers a good look at rivals, specifically RIT. This race was the first competition for the Bombers under the leadership of new Head Coach, Justin Stangel. 
 
The Bombers had four entries throughout the day, with two boats racing in the men's collegiate four and two in the men's collegiate eight. 
 
The first races of the day for IC featured the two entries in the collegiate four. The first crew featured graduate rower Colin McCarthy, as well as seniors Gregg Seiz, Jake Lentz and Seth Freeman with Miles Kenaston as coxswain. The second lineup for Ithaca featured Wesley Hoglin, James Ross, Henry Grant, Griffin Hunt, and first-year coxswain Sami Smith. 
 
The first lineup in the men's collegiate four grew their lead from the start, taking an early advantage over Buffalo State and University of Rochester. The Bombers crew claimed first place with a final time of 17:57.87, edging out the second place University of Rochester crew by about 50 seconds. 
 
The next event for the Bombers was the men's collegiate eight. The Bomber's first lineup included Seth Freeman, Griffin Hunt, James Ross, Henry Grant, Riley Maynard, Cameron Strong, Calvin LaPierre, Caleb Grassi, and Miles Kenaston. The second lineup featured Gregg Seiz, Colin McCarthy, Aidan Gardner, Jake Lentz, Max Vallino, Gage Thomas, Cameron Strong, Jonah Alefantis, and Caroline Grass. 
 
The lineup stroked by Gregg Seiz finished the course in 16:38.55, taking second place behind RIT who finished in 16:32.80. IC's second lineup, stroked by Seth Freeman took third place with a final course time of 16:47.72 ahead of Binghamton's crew. 

REACTION FROM HEAD COACH JUSTIN STANGEL:
"Overall our goal of the day was to have a clean row down the course in all our boats and be consistent with our effort. Both boats started off well and passed boats early on in the race. Unfortunately, one of our fours (Ithaca B) hit a partially submerged log halfway through the race which knocked the skeg and rudder off. Those guys were having a good pace up to that point and it's just part of the outdoor nature of our sport. The Ithaca A entry was not pleased with the technical aspects of the row but were happy to see their fitness carried them through to a victory. In the eights it was a team battle to see who would come out on top. We have been rowing a lot of even speed lineups and that was the same here. Both boats felt like they had set a good rhythm early on and were able to push all the way down the river. At the end the "B" entry was able to row the course nine seconds faster than the "A" entry, not bad over 5000m. 
At the end of the day the team performed well and we set some benchmarks to build off.  Next up will be the Head of the Charles in two weeks for our V8+ lineup.  It will be a good measuring stick to see where we stack up nationally."

Overall, it was a strong performance at the Head of the Genesee Regatta for IC's men's rowing team. Each crew placed well in the team's first showing of the new campaign. The team will travel home and prepare for their next competition at the Head of the Charles on October 22, where only the team's first varsity crew will race in Boston, Massachusetts.