ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's rowing team began the season today at home in the Cayuga Duals regatta. The annual race hosted by Ithaca brought Hobart, Cornell Lightweights and Williams College to town.
Many rowers for the Bombers saw two racing opportunities throughout the day. All in all, the Bombers showed great effort in what looks to be a strong spring campaign.
The first race of the day for the men featured the varsity eight going head-to-head against Hobart. This has been a longstanding rivalry over the last few seasons and was a great race to the finish.
The racecourse stretched 2000m down the Cayuga Inlet with the finish line being just beyond the Ithaca Farmers Market's pier. The weather held off during the racing, however there was a tail wind coming down the racing side of the course giving the racing crews a slight push.
The Ithaca first varsity boat (1V) to start the season includes
Caroline Grass,
Riley Maynard,
Jake Lentz,
Wesley Hoglin,
Dehron Smith,
James Ross,
Griffin Hunt,
Gregg Seiz, and
Cameron Stanford.
The Bombers fell to the Statesmen in a race that was decided by only about three seconds and completed the 2000m course in 6:02.4 compared to Hobart's 5:59.0. In the 1V's second race of the day, Ithaca would see themselves in a dual with Williams College. In this race, the Bombers failed to take down Williams and finished with a time of 6:09.9 but saw different race conditions than the morning's heats. Williams completed the course in 5:54.8.
Next up for the men's races would be the second varsity eight (2V). Today's lineup featured
Sami Smith,
Seth Freeman,
Caleb Grassi,
Aidan Gardner,
Jonah Alefantis,
Tristan Dole,
Bryce Williston,
Cameron Strong and
Calvin LaPierre.
In the first race for the 2V, the men faced off against Hobart. The Bombers fell to the Statesmen by a margin of roughly 13 seconds. The Bombers final race time was 6:22.8 compared to the Statesmen's 6:08.2 In the 2V's second race of the afternoon they went at it with Williams College. Williams edged out Ithaca finishing the course in 5:57.2 compared to the IC time of 6:21.7.
The final race of the day was the regatta's only three laned race. The Ithaca varsity four went up against Hobart and Cornell's lightweights. The Bombers took third place behind Hobart, and the first-place Big Red crew.
All in all, it was a beautiful day on the inlet with great racing opportunities for the whole team. The team will regroup and remain at home next weekend where they will face off against the Yellowjackets from the University of Rochester and the Tigers of RIT. This will be the first Liberty League action for the Bombers so far this season.
