Reloading Year Ahead for a Tough Crew

The 2000 men's crew finished fifth in the country last year, a feat they

look to match or better this spring. "We can expect an exciting racing

season," coach Gavin White said. "The competition for the Dad Vail

Regatta (May 11-12) will be the best in years, with Dowling and Marist

looking like the best this year. Our schedule is about the most

ambitious ever. We'll see Harvard, Yale, California, Washington, and

Wisconsin at the San Diego Crew Classic (April 7-8). At the George

Washington Invitational (April 14), we'll go up against Navy, Georgetown

and Virginia. The Big East Championships put us up against Georgetown

and Syracuse (April 29). Dowling and Marist will come to Philadelphia to

compete in the Murphy Cup (April 21). The IRA will include the very top

teams in the United States (May 31-June 2). We are hopeful that with a

great effort we can again finish in the top five teams in the country."

Temple had several impressive finishes last season. They won the

nationally renowned Dad Vail Regatta for the 12th year in a row and the

17th out of the last 18 times it was held. The Owls also captured gold

at the Big East Regatta for the sixth time in the last seven years, the

Murphy Cup, and they defeated Stanford in an East vs. West dual meet in

California. The crew finished sixth in the San Diego Crew Classic and

tied their best ever for a fifth place finish in the IRA Regatta.

The Cherry and White returns this year without the help of graduates

Jason Read who was a captain and the stroke of the varsity eight, CJ

Luce and Tom Ogden. Returning rowers from the varsity program are

seniors Sean Casey (Co. Kerry, Ireland/St. Brendan's), Rod Bierhuizen

(Ontario, Canada/Denis Morris), Colin Smyth (Drexel Hill, Pa./Monsignor

Bonner), Ferdinand Bergen (Philadelphia, Pa./La Salle College) junior

Mike Regan (Drexel Hill, Pa./Monsignor Bonner), sophomore Marcus

McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) and junior Dave Reidy

(Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast Catholic). Casey, Bierhuizen and Bergen

have provided leadership for the team so far this season, according to

White. The Owls will look to freshman Justin Sands (Pittsburgh,

Pa./North Allegheny), sophomores Ben Barrows (DeerIsle,

Maine/DeerIsle-Stonington), Nate Dirvin (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast

Catholic), Brian Schuch (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme), Mike Jezierski

(East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) and Mike Noel (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper

Merion) to add their skills to help the team succeed.

Temple will be composed of 20 varsity rowers and six freshmen. "We have

recruited eight freshmen, several who have shown that they could be in

the first boat," White said. They include Padraig Bracken (Galway,

Ireland/Colaiste Ingoid), Zachery Ben-dov (Salisbuy, Conn./Salisbury),

Jonathan Hanlin (Somers Point, N.J./Mainland Regional), and Dave Insogna

(Drexel Hill, Pa./Monsignor Bonner). "We will be a very young team with

10 freshmen in our top 16 rowers," White said. "We took our licks during

the fall season but we were able to gain the much needed experience for

our younger guys."

The coxswains for this year's team include returning varsity cox

McElhenney, Schuch, and Sands. McElhenney gained valuable experience

this past summer coxing the U.S. National Team in Princeton, N.J.

"Early in the season could be rough until the younger rowers gain more

sprint racing experience, White said. "In theory, they should be

rounding into shape by May. This will be a reloading year for us.

Nothing is more gratifying in sports than doing something that no one

else thinks that you can. Finishing fifth in the country last spring

with only nine guys on the team reminded us of what we can accomplish

with a lot of hard work and commitment. You should never sell us short."