NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College men's rowing team celebrated 50 years of New York Metropolitan Area racing in grand fashion Saturday. Since 1964 the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Rowing Association and Iona crew have hosted the Metropolitan Championships, a staple on the schedules of many greater New York City Area colleges and universities annually.
The team started the day with a gold and silver medal finish in the pairs competition for the second consecutive year. Hofstra finished third in the three-boat race.
In the novice fours event the Gaels had two boats advance from the morning heats into the afternoon final. The Iona 'A' crew easily won the 2000-meter final over Geneseo, Stevens, NYU, and Iona 'B'.
The novice eight was the benefactor of a Fairfield error which saw the Gaels secure first place in the closing meters of the race. Iona was guaranteed at least a silver medal before one of the Fairfield oarsman caught a "crab". A crab occurs when a rower's oar blade is not timely removed from the water and the oar blade acts like a brake on the boat. A severe crab can cripple a crew to the point where it has to come to a complete stop.
The varsity eight could not defend the Sulger Cup they had won a year ago after finishing second to Fairfield by two and a half boat lengths. Having defeated Fairfield to open the season the Gaels have now fallen to the Stags the last two weeks.
The highlight of the day came in the varsity four event. Iona entered a heavyweight and a lightweight combination and the heavies won the race while the lights secured a bronze medal. The Gaels won this event for the first time in 28 years.
At the conclusion of the regatta the team was awarded the men's points championship. It has been decades since the last time Iona finished first in the points.
Boatings:
Pair A - Christopher Palma, Evan Johnson
Pair B - Ernest Stinebrickner, Brian Fairfield
Novice 4 A - Carmine Corica (coxswain), Camden Chiasson, Bradley Holmes, Matt Sullivan, Connor Galvin
Novice 4 B - Michael McGannon (coxswain), Brandon O'Sullivan, Sean Dolan, Michael McGlone, Kyle Mosley
Novice 8 - Michael McGannon (coxswain), Bradley Holmes, Connor Galvin, Camden Chiasson, Brandon O'Sullivan, Sean Dolan, Kyle Mosley, Michael McGlone, Carmine Corica
Varsity 4 A - Monica Jesby (coxswain), Christopher Palma, Evan Johnson, Andrew Carley, Ryan Dronzek
Varsity 4 B - Kristen Stramka (coxswain), Rich Buchheit, Ryan Harding, Brian Fairfield, Nicholas Adams
Varsity 8 - Monica Jesby (coxswain), Rich Buchheit, Ryan Harding, Andrew Carley, Christopher Palma, Ryan Dronzek, Evan Johnson, Thomas McNulty, Nicholas Adams
Results:
Pair
Iona A - 8:07.2
Iona B - 8:22.2
Hofstra - 9:05.0
Novice 4
Iona A - 7:11.1
Geneseo - 7:36.6
Stevens - 7:37.6
NYU - 7:49.0
Iona B - 7:57.9
Novice 8 (1500 meters)
Iona - 5:23.6
Fairfield - 5:28.1
Stony Brook - 5:34.7
NYU - 6:23.8
Manhattan - 7:19.4
Varsity 4
Iona A - 7:22.9
Geneseo - 7:23.7
Iona B - 7:25.0
Fairfield A - 7:27.0
Fairfield B - 7:30.3
NYU - 7:41.0
Varsity 8
Fairfield - 6:44.0
Iona - 6:57.7
Fairfield B - 7:25.2
Geneseo - 7:26.2
Points Standings
Iona - 103
Fairfield - 54
Geneseo 33.5
Stevens 12
Stony Brook 12
NYU 10
Manhattan 4.5
Hofstra 3
