George Washington University

April 3, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- The George Washington Men's Rowing team continuedits young season with mixed results against the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina in a series of 2000-meter dual and trial races on the Rivanna Reservoir. All racing was upstream and into a stiff headwind. In the Varsity 8 race, the Colonials (6: 28.1) used an aggressive start to jump out to an early lead but couldn't match the pace of a strong Virginia boat (6:22.3) in the second 1,000 meters, falling by just under six seconds. North Carolina finished third in 6:53.2. In the 2nd Varsity 8 race, the Cavaliers (6:50) again overpowered the Colonials (7:03) in the second 1,000 meters, winning by 13 seconds.

Highlighting the racing for the Colonials were the performances of the two Freshman boats. Continuing its strongstart to the spring season, theFreshman 8 battled a slow first 500 meters and determined boats from Virginia (6:49) and North Carolina (7:01) to win by four seconds in a time of 6:45. The Colonials' 2nd Freshman 8 raced aggressively to pick up its first victory of the season, defeating the Cavaliers (7:43) by 19 seconds in a time of 7:24.

"The racing certainly hasn't been perfect, but consecutive wins to begin the season have given the freshmen validation for all the hard work they put in over thewinter," GW Men's Novice Coach Dave Weiss said. "I think that the guysare beginning to realize that they'll be able to compete with some fairlyquick boats if they continue to demand from themselves greater speed every time they take the water this spring. The racing is only going to get more difficult, but I believe they'll embrace the challenge and continue to get faster."

The Colonials' next competition will be this Saturday, April 8, when they host the eight-team George Washington Invitational Crew Classic on the Potomac River. Racing gets underway at 10 a.m. and admission is free. Spectator viewing areas are at Washington Harbour near Rock Creek Parkway and Virginia Ave., NW.

GW's lineups from this past weekend:
Varsity 8:
Coxswain: Amy Garrison
Stroke: Joe DeLeo
7: Oliver Blodgett
6: Jon D'Alba
5: Henry Roosevelt
4: Pete Magee
3: Andrew Cummings
2: Mike Mancusi-Ungaro
Bow: Matt Brady

2nd Varsity 8:
Coxswain: Angeline Wood
Stroke: Mike Hill
7: Mark Pepple
6: Huey Luther
5: Alex DelSordo
4: Steve Shanks
3: Brian VanBenschoten
2: Tim Spell
Bow: James Hacker

Freshman 8:
Coxswain: Caroline Emanuel
Stroke: Cameron Rogers
7: Grant LaFarge
6: Travis Schulze
5: Mike Rossetti
4: Ben Lookner
3: Max Wahle
2: James Hacker
Bow: Gorgi Popstefanov

2nd Freshman 8:
Coxswain: Ariel Hidalgo
Stroke: Will Lee
7: Erik Bergmann
6: Gabe Lade
5: Andrew Lennox
4: Alex Gordon
3: Will Holmes
2: Chris Wieman
Bow: Mike Pieniazek