Due to
last year’s cancellation, our team was very ready to go after it at this year’s
MAAC championships. We had been a strong crew last year and felt that we never
got the chance to prove it. This year, with the addition of Drake and
Jacksonville to the conference as well as the change in point system to NCAA
rules, things were a little different than when we reaced in 2010. Previously,
every boat we raced counted towards the overall points total. This year, only
the 1V8, 2V8 and V4 finishes were counted towards the points total and no
rowers were allowed to double up within those three events. All the other
events were still held but they were considered for exhibition only (on the
women’s side, the men’s side held to the same point system as always).
The night
before racing, the MAAC hosted a banquet for all the crews involved as well as
the tennis teams, who also had their MAACs in Mercer County that weekend. It was
awesome to see everyone on our team clean and dressed nicely, but it was also
great to hear about the accomplishments of the Marist Men’s and Women’s Tennis
teams. Marist Crew hauled in some pretty awesome awards, such as Men’s Coach of
the Year for Sean Clarke, Women’s Varsity 8+ of the year, Men’s Varsity 8 of
the year, Women’s 2V 8 of the year (for our 1F) and Men’s Varsity 4 of the Year
as well as many Crew of the Week awards. On the women’s side, we also had at
least 15 people named to the MAAC All-Academic team, the highest number in the
conference. It was a great event (and the food was awesome). I just wish they
had started the tradition earlier in my rowing career!
The next
day, the races that counted for points were scheduled right after each other so
we had no idea how the two boats did as we were all on the water at the same
time. We locked onto our start on time, but the Jacksonville bow seat had a
problem with her seat, so we waited on the stake boats for about ten minutes,
swallowing our nerves and staying amped up for the race. With two unknown crews
on either side of us, we were very antsy to get off the line.
I can
honestly say that our V8 race was one of the most exciting races I’d ever been
in. I could tell that everyone in front of me was pulling harder than they had
ever pulled. We went down the course within four seats of Drake the entire
time. We would take a bad stroke and they would take a couple seats. Then they
would take a bad stroke and we would gain the seats back. Going into the last
400m they probably had half a boat length up on us. We hit the best sprint of
our lives and took back four seats over those 400 meters, ending the race
bowball to bowball. Neither crew had any idea who won. It was a perfect photo
finish.
It was
torture not knowing the result. We felt that we had raced to the best of our
ability, we just didn’t know if it had been good enough. The Drake girls came
over after we docked and we shook hands, something I thought was very gracious
of them, since everyone was in the same limbo of not knowing who came out on
top. We stood around, staring at each other, waiting for a result and praying
that we had been first. Tom got a phone call and the minute he picked up, we could
tell Drake had won the race and therefore won the championship. Although it was
devastating to hear that our grade of seniors would never win a MAAC
championship, we put up a great fight and had an amazing race. Drake definitely didn’t have an easy win and
if we had to lose in any fashion, I would have picked this one. I hate losing
more than anyone, but I think the experience we gained as a boat was incredibly
valuable.
In the
exhibition events, I raced the pair and the open four. I had about an hour of
rest after the eight race to eat some food, rehydrate and get my racing
mentality back. Our four lineup was a little different because Tom wanted to
make sure Angie, our stroke seat in the *+ and normally our three seat in the
four, had completely healed from her rib injury. However, despite not rowing in
our line-up ever before, we had a great race. It was in two heats, so even
though we won our heat, the real winner would be based on time. We ended up
winning the event overall. I raced with Angie in the pair, my favorite race,
where we placed third. Unfortunately the conditions had picked up for our race
and the tail wind threw up a lot of chop, not exactly fun for the pair. This,
plus the fact that it was my third race of the day meant that I was in a lot of
pain. Howewver, Angie is fantastic at matching up and keeping me motivated and
I think we would have done much worse had she not been able to do that. We
placed third and I can honestly say that I am thankful for all of those 3x2k
workouts we did in winter training.
Overall,
while the result was not what we hoped for, the racing was strong and our team
should be in a fantastic position for next year.
