May 9, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - Temple men's crew had three of its shells win their heats on Friday to qualify for Saturday's semifinals of the 70th dad Vail Regatta. The Owls' Varsity 8, Junior Varsity 8 and Freshman/Novice 4 were all victorious in a strong outing by the Cherry and White rowers.

The Varsity 8, comprised of sophomore stroke Tom Masterson, senior Robert Protesto, (7-seat), senior Thomas Haubrich (6-seat), senior Don Powers (5-seat),sophomore Patrick Curran (4-seat),, senior Nicholas Vlahos (3-seat), senior Sam Cunningham (2-seat), senior Chris Schwartz (bow) and senior coxswain Rory Roberts, defeated second place Lehigh by six seconds in its heat. They will row again at 11:21 in their semifinal heat, which also includes city-rival Saint Joseph's.

The men's JV 8, comprised of senior stroke Bill Gennaro, sophomore Patrick Welsh (7-seat), senior Bill Gennaro (6-seat), sophomore Scott Herring (6-seat), sophomore Brendan Cunningham (5-seat), sophomore Justin Allphin (4-seat), junior Joseph Welsh (3-seat), sophomore Mike Whitman (2-seat), sophomore Bradford Long (bow) and junior cox Thomas Goldner, bested runer-up Florida Tech by a mere two seconds in its heat. They will row again at 9:16 a.m.

The Temple men's first frosh/novice 4, comprised of coxswain Don Norris, Scott Waters (stroke), John Masterson (3-seat), Jeff Wunderlich (2-seat) and Steve Cahill (bow), easily won its heat, besting Rollins by 20 seconds. They will open the day tomorrow with a 7:35 a.m. semifinal.