Saints Have Best Ever Showing at NYS Championships

by: 

Tara Freeman

The Saints freshman eight earned the Bronze at NYS Championships Sunday.

May 2: After advancing to grand finals at the New York State Championships for the first time in program history, the St Lawrence University men's crew team took home a bronze in the novice eight event and finished fifth in the varsity eight final.

The Saints' novice eight looked very strong, finishing six seconds behind the winning crew Hobart College. The Statesmen finished with a time of 6:24.41, while Army took a close second in 6:25.75. St. Lawrence did not move far out of striking distance, finishing third with a time of 6:30.97. Ithaca's A crew took fourth, nearly half a boat off the Saints with a time of 6:33.69, while RIT battled with the Bombers, finishing only a few tenths behind the Tigers in 6:33.89. The University of Rochester rounded out the event with a time of 6:37.78.

The saints freshman eight was stroked by Jake Morse, while Will Mahoney sat seven seat, Christian Bergbauer sat six seat, Rob Meacham sat five seat, Evan McConnell sat four seat, Will Maloney sat three seat, Sam Baker sat two seat, and Francis Stripp sat bow. Audrey Strasenburgh coxed the boat.

St. Lawrence's varsity eight also raced very well against some very fast crews. Marist won the final with a time of 6:01.56, while Hobart took a close second, finishing a few seats down with a time of 6:03.32. Ithaca grabbed third, finishing another few seats off Hobart with a time of 6:05.59, while RIT earned fourth, finishing a little over half a boat length off the Bombers with a time of 6:08.15. The Saints secured the fifth place spot with a time of 6:16.88, beating Army (6:22.06) by open water.

Sophomore Will Schrade stroked the Saints 1V,while sophomore Jamie Cook sat seven seat, sophomore Justin Painter sat six seat, sophomore Brent Underwood sat five seat, junior Dave MacClaren sat four seat, junior Cameron West sat three seat, sophomore Griffin Green sat two seat, and junior Nick Blum sat bow. Junior Alyssa Halton coxed the Saints varsity eight.

The Saints will be back in action Saturday, May 8th - Sunday, May 9th when they compete in the ECAC Championships.