Fun with the Fish

By Sean Richardson, MDC sportswriter and UM rower

The Massachusetts men’s rowing varsity team concluded their fall racing campaign Saturday at the Head of the Fish in Saratoga, New York. 

But, what should have been a jam-packed day of racing for the Aggies was cut short by inclement weather that included consistent, strong rain, excessively choppy waters, regular gusts of wind over thirty miles per hour, and temperatures that danced around the freezing point all day. 

The two varsity eights were scratched as all events after 11:30 A.M. were cancelled. However, multiple novice eight’s, varsity pairs, and the varsity four were all still able to get their races in before all others were called off.

Starting off the day in the men’s open pair event was four crews, which consisted of oarsmen from each varsity eight. Leading the way for UMass was Juniors Matt Hobbes and William Pratt who finished the course in 12:22 and earned a bronze medal for their efforts in their respective event. 

In the same event, first varsity eight members Jeremy Hall and Kedar Seetal finished seventh in 12:53. Rounding out the event was Joe Wenzel and Atticus Kane, also from the first varsity eight, and Sophomores Alex Wurst and Andrew Hartnett who, respectively, finished tenth and eleventh overall.

Next, the novice team entered three eights for their heat and was the first time many of the young oarsmen had ever raced in a competitive rowing event. 

The first novice eight finished first for the Aggies by posting a 12:03 mark, earning 14th place and edging out the top novice boat from rival Rhode Island along the way. In 23rd place was the second novice eight who completed the course in 13:20. 

Sadly, the third novice eight experienced multiple equipment failures on the row up to the start line and were not able to compete. 

Finishing off the day was the Varsity four who had their best race of the season, en route to a 23rd place finish and a speedy 12:37 time.

This concluded the varsity team’s fall, but the Novice squad will scrimmage UConn this weekend to bookend their season.

After the scrimmage, the next time the Aggies will be out on the water together will in be in Savannah, Georgia for the annual winter training trip in January of the new year.