Pennsauken, N.J.- The Men's Crew team recently capped off a strong season with a great showing at the IRA National Championship that took place recently in New Jersey on Friday, May 30th and Saturday, May 31st. Where their varsity eight and second varsity eight boats both qualified for their respective grand finals securing sixth and third places respectively.
The three crews representing the Mules at IRA National Championships were the first varsity eight of:
Curtis Adams-Beyea '28;
Dallas Watson '28;
Charlie Anderson '25;
Jack Childress '26;
Theo Grossman '27;
Danny Sullivan '26;
Andy Li '28;
Cole Christensen '27;
Ian Ucko '28; the second varsity eight of:
Alyssa West '25;
Jed Swan '28;
Brendan Barrett '27;
Robbie Trowbridge '28;
Jackson Harrington '28;
Jack Weinberg '26;
Nolan Roche '28;
Ian Zhou '28; Jack AbuHaidar '27, and the varsity four of: Nate Dunn '27;
Henry Evans '28,
Elliot Do '25, Josh Bradshaw '27,
Charlie Pantelick '27
Coaches Stewart Stokes and Tilghman Moyer indicated that the team was able to put in a productive three-week training block ahead of IRA's and as the semester concluded and the Commencement ceremony wrapped up, the team was able to sharpen their focus on the task ahead of them for a really effective preparation leading into the Championships. The poor weather during that stretch served them well as they felt prepared for the crazy conditions they saw during Saturday's races. Coach Stokes mentioned "Saturday's weather was bad for the JV, but it turned biblical for the varsity in the eight to ten minute period between races. Then it left really strong winds and whitecaps in the water afterward."
Coaches Stokes and Moyer also noted that the team thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere at IRA's as they got to share space with numerous other high-level programs from across the country, some of which have athletes with Olympic experience. It gave them confidence to know that they earned their place there to not just participate in the Championships, but to compete with some of these strong programs, which they certainly did.
A big reason why both varsity eights were able to race as well as they did was due to their composure and their ability to stay loose off the water. They knew they had to upset some strong teams to make their way into the grand finals, and they didn't let it phase them and stepped up to the occasion.
The performance of the Championships was most certainly the second varsity eight's bronze medal performance in the grand final. They were in lane one with Trinity right beside them and Wesleyan on the far side of the course. Both Trinity and Wesleyan had beat them in the heats the day before. They were able to keep their boat in the mix with Trinity in the early portion of the race, and then were able to move past them to beat them handily, and then were battling with Wesleyan on the other side of the course coming into the finish, and just nudged past them at the line. This was the second varsity eight's first time beating both Trinity and Wesleyan, and by beating Trinity were able to prevent them from winning the points score trophy.
The men's varsity four rowed in the G final and were able to end their season with a wire to wire win over Massachusetts Maritime and RIT.
This championship highlighted the competitveness and parity among Division III programs as 15 different programs have qualified for IRA Nationals over the short four years that it has been run. Also, the strength of the NESCAC division was on display as there was heavy representation from NESCAC programs and they were also concentrated near the top of the results sheet as well.
It was a great Nationals for our Colby Mules, and they got to celebrate their season with a dinner with Alumni, board members, and family members, which also included Colby's only Olympian in program history, Hilary Gehman in attendance, the evening after racing completed on Saturday.
Congrats on a great season Colby Crew!
