Men's Crew Competes at National Championships
May 27, 1998
CORVALLIS, Ore. - MEN CREW ROWS AT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS MAY 27, 1998
SCHEDULE: The Oregon State University mens varsity and second varsity (j.v.) crews will compete in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships May 28-30 in Camden, New Jersey. The three-day event is held on the Cooper River. This is the first year ever Oregon State has taken the second varsity boat to this competition.
FIELD: The field is heavily dominated by East Coast crews, with the West Coast being represented by Oregon State, Washington and California. Other crews in the championships include Grand Valley State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgetown, Penn, Syracuse, Temple, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Cornell, Columbia, Brown, Navy, Rutgers, Princeton, Dartmouth, Drexel and Boston University.
THE HEATS: Oregon States Varsity Eight will race in its first heat at the 7:48 a.m. PDT. Heat four includes the Beavers, Washington, Grand Valley State, Wisconsin and Michigan. The Second Varsity Eight will race in heat three at 9 a.m. PDT, competing with Princeton, Brown, Michigan, Boston University, and Drexel.
WHOS RACING: Fourth-year Head Coach Dave Reischman has announced the following student-athletes are on the trip: Varsity Eight (Bow-Stern) B-Scott Fortner, So., Rogue River, OR (Rogue River HS) 2-Travis Carter, Jr., Bend, OR (Mountain View HS) 3-Patrick OHea, Sr., Culver City, CA (Humboldt HS) 4-Alex Wahnsiedler, Jr., Eugene, OR (Willamette HS) 5-Brian Cunnington, Sr., Portland, OR (Benson HS) 6-Jayme Dumford, Sr., Veneta, OR (Elmira HS) 7-Nolan Sisett, Sr., Vancouver, WA (Orange Coast Coll./Brentwood HS) 8-Andy Legard, Jr., McMinnville, OR (McMinnville HS) C-Peter Skei, Fr., Portland, OR (Lincoln HS)
Second Varsity Eight (Bow-Stern) B-Chris Rasor, Jr., Beaver Creek, OR (Molalla Union HS) 2-Josh OConnor, Jr., Hines, OR (Craine Union HS) 3-Zac Benevides, Sr., West Linn, OR (West Linn HS) 4-Matt Anderson, Jr., Aurora, OR (Canby HS) 5-Will Knight, JR., Gresham, OR (Barlow HS) 6-Jon Renholds, Jr., Ashland, OR (Ashland HS) 7-Kevin McElhoes, Jr., Cove, OR (Cove HS) 8-Ian Ruef, So., Dallas, OR (Dallas HS) C-Eric Richardson, Sr., Knob Noster, MO (Texas A&M/Knob Noster)
REISCHMAN ON THE CHAMPIONSHPS: "The varsity boat is stronger than last year. The speeds in this sport have taken a phenomenal jump over the last two years, so we are eager to race against the best to see where we stand on a national scene. We get caught up in the fact that we race Washington and California, which are clearly the top two teams in the nation, every week. This is a great chance to see just what kind of speed we have in relationship to some of the other top crews in the country."
REISCHMAN ON THE STATE OF THE PROGRAM: "Over the last four years we have consistently raised our standard. In the process we are making a big effort to recruit individuals who can help this program achieve and who have the attitude to be successful. It is not an unreasonable goal to qualify for the National Championships anymore - in fact that is the expectation now. This program has a lot of confidence in that it can compete at the national level. When we return from the IRAs every year, you can see the student-athletes come back more determined to achieve more the next season."
REISCHMAN ON THE TEAM: "This isnt the most physically gifted team I have ever had, but it is the fasted crew Ive had. This crew has really made a commitment to work hard and work together, and that has shown throughout the season. This crew has raised the standard in which future crews will be aiming for or bettering."
REISCHMAN ON GOALS FOR THE IRAs: "Its always to goal to make the Grand Finals (top 6) at this event, but really a lot has to do with how the heats and the draws work themselves out. We dont do a lot of talking that we want to finish eighth or seventh for example, because there are a lot of fast crews in the country. Unlike a lot of other sports, we cant play defense in rowing - speed is speed. There is nothing you can do to effect the speed of the other crews, so we are going to take the same approach we have had all season, what we can control is our speed. There is an underlying goal for every crew is to push the standard up a little each year. We are not looking for the one big jump, just steady improvement."
REISCHMAN ON THE SECOND VARSITY: "We feel this is an important step in the continued improvement of the program. This will give this group of rowers a chance to see what the national championships are all about - basically a broader view of what collegiate rowing is. We have some student-athletes in second varsity boat who will contribute greatly in the varsity boat down the line, so we felt it was important for them to gain this experience."
HOW IT WORKS: The Varsity Eight will participate in one of four heats to open the championships. The winning boat from each heat will automatically advance to the semi-finals. The rest of the boats will go into a redraw and compete in the repechage. The top two boats from each heat of the repechage will join the four previous individual heat winners in the semi-finals. There will be two semi-final heats, with the top three in each of the heats competing in the Grand Finals, and the fourth through sixth place boats from those heats competing in the Petite Finals.
IRA HISTORY: This is Oregon States fourth consecutive year of participating in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. The Beavers have improved every season since its first trip in 1995. The Mens Varsity Eight finished 16th in 1995; 10th in 1996; and ninth last year.
SEASON TO DATE: The following is a list of Oregon States times and finishes for the 1998-99 spring season:
Men @ SD Classic @Cal @UW vs. Stan. Windermere vs. UW @Pac-10 Varsity Eight 6:05.0/6:01.9 (9) 5:45.0 (2) 5:53 (1) 6:06.1 (1) 5:57.23 (3) Second Varsity 6:30 (8) 6:03.0 (2) 6:15.23 (5) 6:08.59 (1) 6:30.19 (1) 6:19.61 (2) 6:05.88 (3)
