PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – For the first time in four seasons as a varsity program the Wentworth Institute of Technology rowing team earned a medal at the Dad Vail Regatta. The Leopards' second varsity four placed third in the Men's Collegiate JV 4+ race while two other boats – the novice four (Men's Frosh/Novice Four w/Cox) and varsity four (Men's Varsity Heavyweight Four w/Cox) – also advanced to the third final on Saturday, however inclement weather forced the cancelation of those races. The Dad Vail Regatta is the largest collegiate regatta in North America, with over 100 colleges and Universities from the U.S. and Canada participating. was held on the Schuylkill River.
The Men's Collegiate JV 4+ crew consisted of freshman coxswain Sara Anderson (Manchester, N.H.) as well as junior Padraic O'Sullivan (Upton, Mass.), junior Jacob L'Heureux (Sanford, Maine), junior Logan O'Donnell (Killingworth, Conn.), and junior Alec Boyle (Harvard, Mass.). Wentworth won its six-boat heat on Friday with a time of 6:52.187, which bested Fairfield by nearly four seconds and sent the Leopards to Saturday's finals, where, in the six-boat race, the Leopards took home the bronze medal after finishing third with a time of 6:47.239. This was a tightly contested race as the Black & Gold were edged by Georgia Tech (6:42.071) and Bowdoin (6:45.593), while defeating Fairfield (6:58.551), Drexel (7:01.049), and Lafayette (7:02.839).
In the Men's Frosh/Novice Four w/Cox race, sophomore coxswain Kristian Hosker (Nahant, Mass.) and crew members freshman Bohdan Ruehle (Kinnelon, N.J.), freshman James Bednar (Kansas City, Mo.), freshman Liam Jacques (Medford, Mass.), and freshman Tyler Stowe (Attleboro, Mass.) competed. In Wentworth's first race the Leopards were 15th out of 30 boats with a time of 6:52.748. The top 18 finishers in the race advanced to the semifinals. In the semifinals, there were three heats of six boats each. The Leopards finished fifth in their heat with a time of 7:17.97 which advanced the Black & Gold to the third final. However, rain and wind forced the cancelation of the finals on Saturday.
Freshman Emily Seslar (Plymouth, Mass.) was the coxswain of the Men's Varsity Heavyweight Four crew which also consisted of sophomore Karlis Kaza (Wayland, Mass.), freshman Tyler Brinson (Lowell, Mass.), freshman Sepehr Khansalar (Cambridge, Mass.), and junior Matt West (Hingham, Mass.). The Leopards placed 14th out of 35 boats in their first race with a time of 6:31.389 with the Black & Gold being among the top 18 finishers and earned a spot in the semifinals. Three heats of six boats each competed in the semifinals with Wentworth finishing fifth in their heat with a time of 7:00.261 which put the Leopards in the third final. The Leopards' hopes for a high finish in the third final were dashed when inclement weather canceled Saturday afternoon's races.
Competition in the Dad Vail Regatta concludes the Leopards' 2016-2017 season.
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