October 30, 2002

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Georgetown heavyweight men concluded their fall racing season this weekend by competing in both the Head of the Schuykill and Princeton Chase Regattas. This grueling schedule meant that most of the Hoya rowers raced three times in two days. Senior Dave Fernandez (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep), raced four times, competing on Saturday in the heavyweight four and the quad, and racing on Sunday in the heavyweight four and the heavyweight eight.

The Head of the Schuykill Regatta in Philadelphia allowed the Georgetown to mix its lineups. In the Heavyweight Four event, coxswain Dennis O’Donnell (Conshohocken, Pa./LaSalle College Preparatory) steered an excellent course, while Matt Hallisey (Durham, N.H./Phillips Exeter), David Benchener (Newtown, Pa./ Saint Ignatius), Eric Hilmo (Springfield, Va./Pine Forest), and Dave Fernandez were challenged by tough conditions during the first third of the race. But as conditions improved, the Georgetown was able to make its move, finishing third out of 25 crews, losing to two boats from the elite Penn A.C. boat club, but defeating all collegiate crews.

Rowing in the quad event after practicing together only twice, Andrew Brown (Bridgewater, Mass./Thayer Academy), Tyler Holt (Chicago, Ill./The Latin School), Alex Lazur (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt), and Dave Fernandez, finished 10th. In the Championship Eights event, the Hoya junior varsity of Steph Webber (Kittery, Maine/R.W. Traip Academy), Tom Farnoly (Vineland, N.J./St.Augustine Preparatory), Scott Stapleton (Oakland, Ca./College Preparatory School), Pat King (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Preparatory), Matt Sykes (Conway, N.H./Brewster Academy), Ryan Schafer (Grosse Point Farms, Mich./University Liggett School), Tony Boyd (Kearney, N.J./St. Peter's Preparatory), Matt Frutig (Cleveland, Ohio/University), and Robert Fritz (Stuttgart, Germany/Gymnasium Korntal), finished 19th, racing against mostly varsity crews.

The Princeton Chase on Sunday brought together most of the top east coast crews, many of which the Hoyas will be racing in the spring season. In the first event of the day for the heavyweights, Georgetown split its varsity eight into two fours, which finished 13th and 16th out of twenty-five boats. In the final event of the day, the Heavyweight Eights, the Hoyas started behind rivals Syracuse and Temple, both of whom they had beaten the week before at the Head of the Charles. The varsity eight of Alex Taft (Goshen, Ky./Kent School), Matt Hallisey, Dave Fernandez, Noah Bergman (Keene, N.H./Northfield Mount Hermon), David Benchener, Eric Hilmo, Scott Stapleton, Tyler Holt, and Andrew Brown, slowly advanced on both crews. Near the halfway point of the race, the Hoyas had closed the gap significantly on Syracuse, and appeared to be edging closer to Temple. The pursuit was halted when Princeton’s second eight, which had started the race nearly overlapping the Hoya stern, clashed oars with Georgetown, forcing one of the oars under water and stopping the boat. While the Georgetown boat was able to recover, they lost a significant amount of time, falling to Temple, Rutgers, and Virginia, three crews the Hoyas had beaten the week before. The ability of the Hoyas to quickly recover allowed them to edge both Yale and Syracuse for a ninth place finish. The junior varsity eight raced in the same event, finishing 21^st.