Nov. 18, 2008

Charlottesville, Va. - The Georgetown University men's crew concluded its fall season with a successful weekend at the Rivanna Romp Head Race in Charlottesville, Va., winning both the men's 8+ and men's 4+ races. In the men's 8+, Georgetown men's "A" won, finishing in a time of 12:18.22. Georgetown men's "A" won the men's 4+ race in 13:41.90, while Georgetown men's "B" finished the men's 4+ race in second, coming in at 13:47.23.

"We had already beaten Virginia twice this fall, at the Charles and at the Princeton Chase," Men's crew head coach Tony Johnson said. "So we went into the race with expectations to do well, but at the same time every race is a separate event, and since it was a home race for Virginia I did expect that they would be very aggressive."

The Georgetown "A" 8+ boat consisted of cox Victoria Stulgis, stroke Grant Morrow, Joe Ledvina, Spencer Almy, Bryan Chismar, Andrew Federer, Chuck Hartwig, Tom Carroll and bow Jae Lee. The Georgetown "B" 8+ boat consisted of cox Jack Carlson, stroke Tyler Spencer, Sam Bourneuf, Bryan Gallagher, Peter Holowesko, Tom Skomba, Matt Lavin, Patrick Opdyke and bow Nick Williams.

Virginia did race aggressively, starting fast, but they were unable to hold off Georgetown in the men's eights race.

"I thought both of our eights did a good job," Johnson said. "Our "A" crew raced well and closed in on Virginia and then passed them in the final stretch. We had some lineup changes since our last race and the guys who raced on Sunday did fine."

"The team's solid performance in Charlottesville will serve as a positive conclusion to the fall racing season, as well as an excellent point of departure for the coming months of winter training," senior captain Grant Morrow said.

The winning Georgetown men's "A" 4+ boat consisted of cox Jack Carlson, stroke Andrew Federer, Joe Ledvina, Spencer Almy, and bow Jae Lee, while the "B" 4+ boat that finished just seconds behind in second place consisted of cox Victoria Stulgis, stroke Max Mickiewicz, Bryan Chismar, Bryan Gallagher and bow Chuck Hartwig.

"Our two top fours did quite well, going forward from the Friday practice and finished first and second," Johnson said. "Although the other two fours were not as fast I thought they looked good."

Georgetown "D" finished in fourth in the 4+ race in a time of 14:11.63. The "D" crew consisted of cox Kitty Lichtenstein, stroke Grant Morrow, Peter Holowesko, Tom Skomba and bow Tom Carroll. Georgetown "C" consisted of cox Sean Liv, stroke Tyler Spencer, Sam Bourneuf, Austin Roberts and bow Nick Williams and finished in sixth place in 14:55.58.

"It was nice to end our fall season on a high note; now we've really got to bear down for winter training," senior captain Jack Carlson said. "We all know that the springtime races are, in large part, won and lost over the winter. It's up to each individual to realize his own max potential."

The Rivanna Romp was not just the end of the fall season for everyone on the men's crew team, as it marked the final race of senior Austin Robert's Hoya career. Roberts, who will graduate in December will accept a commission as an officer in the United States Army and will also attend the national team selection camp in the sport of skeleton sledding.

"It's always hard taking off the uniform of the school you love for the last time, and my final race was no exception," said Roberts. "I have great hopes and high expectations for the future of Georgetown Crew. Our underclassmen have shown real potential, and this year's 50th anniversary celebration was a great example of how special this program really is to both the rowers and the University."