The Fairfield University men’s and women’s rowing teams’ spring seasons are in full effect, as they competed in the Kerr Cup in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday, April 22.
Both units displayed strong results in the City of Brotherly Love, as the men’s varsity four earned the right to be in the grand final after obtaining a first-place finish in its heat, with a time of 7:02.82. Representing the varsity four was George Voegele ‘25, Zach Siwiec ‘26, Brendan Martin ‘24, graduate student Ryan Borsy and coxswain Angeles Mendoza ‘25, who accumulated a final-rally time of 7:54.4, landing in third.
The second varsity four boat took home gold in its final with a time of 8:13.2, completing the course six seconds sooner than Lafayette College, who settled for silver. The Stags leaned on Will LaMotta ‘23, Reid Van Trieste ‘26, Tyler Siwiec ‘26, Mike McCarthy ‘24 and coxswain Mendoza in its successful quest for gold.
The varsity eight also capped off a respectable performance, as they finished in fourth with a time of 6:03.25 before punching a ticket into the final heat. The final heat saw them finish in third with a time of 7:03.6, with Michael Hamilton ‘24, Alex McLaughlin ‘26, Spencer Chidley ‘24, Ryan Wrynn ‘25, graduate student Jake Godwin, Brady Stergion ‘23, Michael Greene ‘23, Jerry Malloy ‘24 and coxswain Thomas Flynn ‘24 leading the charge.
The second varsity eight locked down a fourth place finish, posting a time of 6:47.4 in the process. The Stags rolled out Nick Borovicka ‘26, Ryan MacDonnell ‘26, Patrick Aresnault ‘25, Lanyon Henwood ‘25, Alex Hemmat ‘23, Jack Cartnick ‘25, Nick Tapinis ‘26, Tom McLaughlin ‘26 and coxswain Matt Tarabocchia ‘24 in the heat.
Flynn, a coxswain who competed on the varsity eight, was impressed with the team’s performance.
“Overall, the team performed fairly well on Saturday down in Philadelphia for the Kerr Cup Regatta,” Flynn explained. “In my boat—the 1V8+—we were able to squeeze out a narrow victory over Loyola in our first race of the day, but fell to Loyola and University of Delaware just a couple hours later. As soon as our second race began—which was our petite final—the wind picked up, knocked us around, and we were unable to get back on track in time enough to catch back up to the other two boats.”
Flynn continued that “from my experiences racing the past few weekends, I have come to realize that on any given day, any crew might show out with their best performance yet—and you better be ready for it. Some of our rivals—such as Loyola Maryland and Iona—have battled back and forth with us this season, and although we might win or lose to them one weekend, we know that the results could very well flip the following race. Some of the team was very satisfied with their performance this week, and some guys were understandably disappointed, but we will all continue to keep our heads up and push ahead towards our next challenge,” Flynn finished.
Additionally, the women’s unit had itself a day on Saturday, as it picked up a third-place finish in all four grand finals in which they took part on Saturday. The unit was represented by the second varsity eight, the second varsity five, the women’s varsity four and the women’s varsity eight.
The second varsity eight boat secured two third-place finishes, once in its heat and the other in the general final. The unit locked down times of 7:11.92 in the Heat before resuming competition later in the day with a time of 8:07.7 in the grand final. Rounding out the second varsity eight unit was Charlotte Roest ‘25, Sarah Wendling ‘25, Meghan Megill ‘23, Caroline McAndrew ‘23, Isabella King ‘23, Christina Caruso ‘23, Emma Szacht ‘25, Grace McDonough ‘26 and coxswain Ellery McSpedon ‘26.
The second varsity four was divided into two shells, an A boat and a B boat. The A boat was comprised of Kara Davidson ‘26, Alyson Moore ‘26, Chloe Trudel ‘26, Lillian Krol ‘26 and coxswain Alexandra Tomlinson ‘26, while the B boat included Cassandra Reilly ‘23, Giovanna Enderle ‘26, Alyssa Colombrita ‘26, Megan Rourke ‘24 and coxswain Michaela Thompson ‘24. Overall, the second varsity four placed two entries in the event, as the A boat took home third place in its heat with a time of 10:15.8 and sixth in the grand final with a 10:56.7 finish. The B boat took home consecutive third-place finishes in both its heat and in the grand final, as it posted times of 9:48.0 and 9:52.9 in the two corresponding events.
The varsity four called on Kelly Cullen ‘26, Julianna Pedrazzi ‘26, Olivia Burghardt ‘26, Mia Van Mater ‘26 and coxswain Marianna Kalin ‘25 to compete in its qualifying race in hopes of reaching the Grand Final, as it completed the course in 8:09.6 to settle for third place before signing off with a time of 9:37.3 in its final race of the day. The varsity 8 competed in the grand final by bringing home a third-place finish, finishing up with a time of 7:50.2. Composing the unit was Florencia Caces ‘23, Arianna Welton ‘25, Chloe Lennon ‘23, Emily Regan ‘24, Adalia Flores ‘23, Kathryn Bergstrom ‘24, Catherine Morrissey ‘25, Arden Costello ‘25 and coxswain and graduate student Erin Dobbs.
Morrisey also was pleased with the overall results.
“Our team did well overall down in Philly. We made adjustments from previous weekends in the 1V8 and 2V8 that put us in a good position against schools like La Salle, Drexel, Thomas Jefferson, Loyola and Old Dominion,” Morrissey elaborates. “We secured 3rd place in the 1V8 and 2V8 races and made the grand final in the 1V4. We are putting in the work on and off the water to better ourselves and our team to be successful for our next race in Shelton, and then in Saratoga where we will have our MAAC Championship Race.
She finished, “We know that we have the ability to go up against bigger teams and prove ourselves out on the race course, so showing up against them and putting in our best work is what is important in the upcoming races.”
Both the men’s and women’s sides have a little more work to do, as both will travel to Pennsauken, N.J., on May 12 and 13 for the Dad Vail Regatta. Flynn and Morrissey both explained that there is a lot of work to do but also expressed excitement about the upcoming challenge.
“Each day at practice will bring a new task at hand—whether it be sprints or steady state and drills—and all minds will be dialed in on our final race,” Flynn said. “The competitive nature of the rowers and coxswains, and the desire to produce winning results at the regatta will test the spirits and exhaust the bodies and minds of all. However, with the end in sight, we all understand the great honor it is to row at the Dad Vail Regatta, and are willing to make whatever sacrifices necessary to bring some medals home to Fairfield.”
“In the next few weeks, we will be focused on our MAAC Championship Race in Saratoga,” Morrisey states. “Really honing in on the power we have, and racing our race is important.
“We are one team, and one family, and will be working towards one goal as we move through the next few weeks. It’s a really exciting time to see how much speed we can generate, and how fast we can race,” the second-year athlete elaborates.
For more information about the Fairfield University men’s and women’s rowing teams, please visit www.fairfieldstags.com for updates.
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