Thunderstorms rolled through eastern Ohio this weekend but just missed Athens, enabling the MACRA regatta to proceed as planned and the Grand Valley rowing team to win the team points trophy for the third year consecutively. The schedule was bumped forward in anticipation of lightning, but the rowers performed in their final races even after an abbreviated rest after their heats this morning.

The Novice Women’s 8+ won their final by a significant amount of time. The girls looked smooth and long, and have made incredible technical gains in the past couple of weeks. These gains have been noted team-wide even without Coach’s encouragement.

The Novice Men’s 8+ also rowed to first-place finish, defeating Cincinnati by open water and impressing their teammates by looking “strong and smooth” in their final. After their row, three boys from the novice boat stepped up to hot-seat immediately into the 2V Men’s 8+ race to cover for their varsity teammates who graduated Saturday in Grand Rapids.

The Women’s 2- took second place in a race known for technical difficulty. Hanna Jones and Krista Rapisarda moved held strong to second place down the course, finishing strong behind Mercyhurst, a last-minute entry. The girls navigated the course impressively, avoiding the five-second steering penalty other teams in their race received.

The Men’s Novice 4+ took 2nd place to Mercyhurst by about a boat length. However, they defeated Northwestern, Cincinnati, Cleveland State, and Dayton. Coach Geoff Sadek notes, “I was pleased. They knocked off people who were 15-20 pounds heavier than them.”

Novice men Robbie DeWeerd, Chad Conlon, and Keegan Jahnke jumped into the 2V Men’s 8+ without a cool-down, and raced another 2000 meters without ever having practiced in the varsity boat. Due to the time crunch caused by hot-seating, the boat rushed up the course to the starting line and took off without even practicing a start. The guys got it together at the thousand meter mark, when they walked away from OSU and took seats on Mercyhurst. Mercyhurst won the event, but Grand Valley took a close second in a strong finish. The boys have since (affectionately) referred to their lineup as a “motley crew.”

The 2V Women’s 8+ established their dominance early in their race, which they won by a minute and thirty-five seconds. They dropped the rate and rowed a smooth, controlled race, saving their energy and readiness for the Dad Vail Regatta. This race kicks off a week-long taper for the girls and the rest of the team, and their preparation and restlessness showed in powerful strokes, even at a low rate. Lauren Holben says, “I think we raced really well and saw how in shape we are. We’ve gained speed since SIRA and we continue to gain speed for Vails.”

The Varsity Women’s 8+ won their final over Mercyhurst by seven seconds, quickening their stroke rate to adjust to their new boat. The girls were quick off the start and gained distance on the other crews consistently throughout the piece. Due to the two and a half hour delay before their race, the women were very warmed up (albeit slightly distracted) before they lined up to start, and approximately half the rowers jumped out of the boat to use the bathroom before the race commenced. Coach Bancheri would call this “adapting.”

The Men’s Varsity 8+ rowed a slightly different lineup due to graduating seniors in the usual lineup. Zak Armstrong and Tucker Anderson stepped up for the race from the 2V boat, and demonstrated their competitiveness: the first race was called a tie between Mercyhurst and GVSU, and the boys had to launch again for a 1300 meter sprint for the victory. The men established their lead early in the sprint and held of Mercyhurst until the finish line, with the entire rest of the Grand Valley team sprinting and screaming along the course for the last 400 meters. Said a Mercyhurst team member of this display: “Their cheering section is bigger than our entire school.”

Sunburn happened this weekend but thunderstorms didn’t, and the team made a great showing and is revved up for their week training camp in New Jersey that will propel them to the Vails starting line. Anticipation and energy are high, and the rowers will continue to fine tune their rowing before their season culminates in Philadelphia.

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