Pioneer Navy competes at Frostbite Regatta
Marietta sends seven boats to Philadelphia race

Nov. 8, 2008
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The Marietta College men's crew began its final weekend of the fall season by sending seven shells to compete in five different events at the Frostbite Regatta on the Schuylkill River Saturday (Nov. 8). The Pioneer Navy picked up three wins as well as a pair of both runner-up and third place finishes at the regatta.

Marietta opened the morning with a victory and a third place finish in the freshmen/novice four. It first boat, which sat stroke Ethan Shoemaker (Westerville/North), James Smith (Atlantic City, N.J./Holy Spirit), Steve Williamson (Moon Township, Pa./Central Catholic), bow Sean McKenna (Blue Bell, Pa./LaSalle) and coxswain Kendra Canter (Marietta), cruised to a nine-second win over the competition. The Pioneers crossed the line in 7:12.75. Temple (7:21.56) placed second and La Salle (7:34.61) took third. The Pioneers second shell, which featured stroke Tim Shields (Seaville, N.J./St. Augustine), John Chester (Petersburg, N.J./Ocean City), Alex Sparta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel Area), bow James Inks (McDonald, Pa./Seton LaSalle) and coxswain Sam Ellis (West Grove, Pa./St. Mark's), finished its race in 7:39.92 to place third behind St. Joseph's (7:20.64) and SUNY-Maritime (7:30.97).

Marietta's varsity lightweight four was the next to take the water. It finished its race in 7:26.34, which was second only to Pennsylvania, who won with a time of 7:16.27. Lafayette (7:39.50) placed third. The shell included junior stroke Andrew Hazelrigg (Orlando, Fla./Olympia), junior Mike Flanagan (Absecon, N.J./Holy Spirit), sophomore Gregory Clair (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), sophomore bow Michael Cute (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) and sophomore coxswain Thomas Dougherty (Lansdowne, Pa./Monsignor Bonner).

The Pioneer Navy then earned two wins in the freshmen/novice eight races, using similar, evenly-matched lineups from those that raced at last week's Rivanna Romp. Marietta “A” included stroke Patrick Cleveland (New Canaan, Conn.), Smith, Williamson, Henry Richard Fredericks (Seaville, N.J./Ocean City), Robert Hune-Katler (Marietta), James Inks (McDonald, Pa./Seton LaSalle), Shields, bow Matthew Newsome (Petersburg, N.J./Ocean City) and coxswain Ellis. This shell won its race with a time of 6:56.95, beating Ithaca (7:04.82), Philadelphia (7:24.20) and three other boats to the line. Marietta “B” featured stroke Shoemaker, Jim Furl (Marietta), Drew Schulte (Parma/St. Ignatius), Ben Charley (Pittsburgh, Pa./Winchester Thurston), Charles Jordan (Bay Shore, N.Y./St. Anthony's), Brian Timlin (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley), McKenna, bow Chester and coxswain Tyler Stay (Bethel Park, Pa.). These Pioneers raced to the line in 6:42.69, ahead of Scranton (7:04.15), Delaware (7:10.82) and three other schools.

The varsity four, which featured sophomore Devin Turley (Herndon, Va./Westfield), sophomore Zach McGurk (Alexandria, Va./Bishop O'Connell), sophomore Stephen Baranoski (Meriden, Conn./Xavier), sophomore bow Daniel Bratton (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) and coxswain Canter, came up just short of a victory in its race, falling by just over one-half of a second to first-place Loyola, which finished in 7:12.69. Marietta crossed the line in 7:13.20, while Temple (7:33.04) took third.

Marietta's varsity lightweight eight closed out the competition with a third place finish. Stroke Hazelrigg, Flanagan, senior Mitch Paskawych (Marietta), Furl, Schulte, Newsome, Clair, bow Cute and coxswain Dougherty completed the course in 6:34.91. Delaware won the race in 6:23.88, while St. Joseph's (6:27.07) in the final meters to take second.

The Pioneers remain in Philadelphia on Sunday (Nov. 9) to close out the season at the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta [Schedule]. The last regatta of the fall season on the Schuylkill, the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta was founded by the Braxton family and friends to honor the memory of Bill Braxton, Jr., a popular and highly-motivated lightweight rower that attended Marietta College. In 1972, the Marietta lightweight 8+, in which Braxton rowed bow seat, finished second in the Dad Vail Regatta. The following year, with Braxton rowing seven seat, the Marietta lightweight 8+ went undefeated during the season and won the Dad Vail championship. Braxton was killed later that summer in an auto accident.