Aggies Earn Automatic Bid for 56th HOCR in Collegiate 8+

Massachusetts traveled to Cambridge this past weekend to compete at the 55th annual Head of the Charles. The regatta was held all day Saturday and Sunday with over 800 schools, clubs and organizations and 11,000 collegiate athletes in attendance. UMass’s varsity 8 competed in the collegiate 8 event on Sunday, while alumni raced Saturday in the club 4+ and senior master 8. The Aggies also christened their brand new Hudson 8+, naming the boat after former alum Jack Frackleton ’81 who went on to represent the U.S. in the men’s 4x at the ’88 Seoul Olympics. 

Conditions were very pleasant over the weekend, with temperatures in the high 50’s for both days. Saturday drew a slight head wind of about 8 mph, while Sunday’s racing had nearly no wind altogether. 

UMass’s master 8, composed of oarsmen 50 years of age and older, raced early Saturday morning and were able to finish the course with a 18:41.308 mark for 35th place. 

The alumni 4+, composed of Eddy Mog ’14, Sam Chiburis ’18, Stephen Beaumont ’18, Jake Savona ’18 and coxed by Kristina DeAngulo ’17 went up against some of the top schools and clubs in the world in their event. Out of 56 crews the alum finished 45th in a time of 18:55.726. 

On Sunday, the varsity 8 took the Charles and finished 14th out 38 crews, completing the course in 14:59.336 and earning an automatic bid for next year’s collegiate 8 event. UMass’s strong showing was also the third best for A.C.R.A. programs in their event. Finishing behind just Michigan and Notre Dame while edging out Boston College, Virginia and Purdue. 

Next up, the Aggies will travel to Saratoga and race at the Head of the Fish regatta. It will also be the first time that the novice team races for UMass this season. Meanwhile, the second and third varsity eights will be doubling racing in the collegiate 4+ and their respective collegiate 8 event.