Nov. 11, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - This weekend, Philadelphia was home to both the Philadelphia Frostbite and Braxton Memorial Regattas, where Temple Men's Crew was able to showcase their talents on the Schuylkill River.

The Owls competed at the Frostbite Regatta on Wednesday, where they finished within the top three teams in four different events. The Men's Varsity 8 team finished in second place, only 3.31 seconds behind a very strong University of Delaware crew, and on top of Drexel. The boat consisted of Tom Goldner (coxswain), Tom Masterson (8-seat), John Masterson (7-seat), Pat Curran (6-seat), Brendan Cunningham (5-seat), Jeff Wunderlich (4-seat), Joe Welsh (3-seat), Jimmy Barr (2-seat), and Scott Waters (bow).

Temple's 4A and 4B teams fell just short of achieving the top spots in the remaining varsity events, with Loyola University taking first place honors in both, and Marietta coming in second in the 4A competition. The Men's 4a boat consisted of Mike Berger (coxswain), Ryan Rickus (4-seat), Steve Cahill (3-seat), Matt Meyer (2-seat), and Brad Long (bow). The 4B rowers included Sam Gennace (coxswain), John Boehm (4-seat), Alex Klein (3-seat), Brian Rehill (2-seat), and Nick Contino (bow). Temple's Frosh/Novice players also put on a strong performance in the 4A event, finishing second to Marietta. The roster for the event included Sam Gennace (coxswain), Brian Rehill (4-seat), Joe Bellesheim (3-seat), Matt Meyer (2-seat), and Mike VanAssche (bow).

Despite the Owl's impressive showing at The Frostbite Regatta, the team put on an even more competitive show on Sunday at the Braxton Memorial Regatta. "Sunday was a much more productive day for the men's program," said head coach, Dr. Gavin R. White. The team won four of the five events in which they entered.

Leading from start to finish, the group won in the Varsity 8 event, which comprised Mike Berger (coxswain), Tom Masterson (8-seat), John Masterson (7-seat), Pat Curran (6-seat), Jason Cartwright (5-seat), Jeff Wunderlich (4-seat), Joe Welsh (3-seat), Brian Rehill (2-seat) and Scott Waters (bow). The Varsity 4B team also garnered 1st place honors, with a time of 5:35.30. Rowers included Sam Gennace (coxswain), Djordje Vilimanovic (4-seat), Petar Ivacic (3 seat), Scott Herring (2-seat), and Brad Long (bow). The Varsity Owls also finished 2nd in the Final 4A event with a time of 5:34.23.

To round out the group's noted performance, the men's Frost/novice squad also earned two first place finishes in both the Final 4 and Final 8 events.