May 12, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - Temple had a strong first day on the Schuykill River at the 69th Dad Vail Regatta. The Owls qualified six boats overall, including both the men's and women's Varsity 8 crews, into Saturday's semifinal races.

"It was a good day for Temple," said men's crew coach Gavin White, in his 28th season as the Owls' coach. "We had four boats not only qualify, but win their heats."

"I am happy with the way we competed today" added women's crew coach Tim Hagan. "Especially with how our varsity 8 overcame a tough first heat to qualify in the reps."

The Men's Varsity 8, comprised of Patrick Curran (stroke), Robert Protesto (7), Dante Cammarata (6), James Harding (5), Peter Gostling (4), Nick Vlahos (3), Thomas Haubrich (2), Don Powers (bow) and Rory Roberts (coxswain). won its heat easily over second place Lehigh. The 20th-ranked and top-seeded Owls defeated the Mountain Hawks by 8.32 seconds.

The Men's JV 8 of Sam Cunningham (stroke), Timothy Malloy (7), Bill Gennaro (6), Matt Hanlin (5), Cyrus Haines (4), Joseph Welsh (3), Chris Bushek (2), Chris Schwartz (bow) and Thomas Goldner (coxswain) bested second place Army by five seconds while the Men's Freshman/Novice 4 of Tom Masterson (stroke), Pat Welsh (3), Brendan Cunningham (2) and Scott Herring (bow) took its heat by six seconds over second-place Santa Clara.

The Men's pair of Brendan Uhll and Eric Alexander, racing together for the first time, won its heat by 10 seconds over Bowdoin.

The Women's Varsity 8 comprised of Jillian Ploof (coxswain), Stephanie Hanlin (stroke), Colleen Sullivan (7), Bailey Chick (6), Rachel Jordan (5), Leah Silverstein (4), Amelia Mango (3), Anne Mikolajewski (2) and Amanda Barr (bow) placed third in its initial heat, just 0.37 seconds behind second place Foirdham. The Owls rebounded in a rep race, qualifying for the semis be edging Robert Morris by 1.5 seconds for second place.

The Women's JV 8 of Jennifer Azeles (coxswain), Lauren Fattori (stroke), Laura Altimari (7), Jessica Hermann (6) Brittany Sugden (5), Carolyn Bailey (4), Laura Scullin (3), Kate Guth (2) and Nicole Wagner (bow), also qualified for the semifinals, finishing second to Massachusetts.

The Men's Varsity 4, which placed third in its heat, and the Women's Lightweight 8, which finished fourth, failed to qualify for Saturday's semifinals.

Saturday's races commence at 7:00 a.m. with the Men's Varsity 8 Finals to be held at 4:20 p.m.