Pioneer Navy wins two gold medals and a bronze at Indianapolis Invite
Marietta's F/N 4+ and V 4+ both pick up victories on Saturday

April 26, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Marietta College men’s crew had its final tune-up before the year-end Dad Vail Rowing Championship when the team traveled to the Indianapolis Invitational on Saturday (April 26) afternoon, which took place on Eagle Creek. The Pioneer Navy competed in three events and took a pair of first place finishes as well as a third place finish to give it great momentum heading into Dad Vails.

Marietta’s Varsity 4+, which featured junior stroke Mitch Paskawych (Marietta), sophomore Mike Flanagan (Absecon, N.J./Holy Spirit), sophomore Andrew Hazelrigg (Orlando, Fla./Olympia), sophomore bow John Porter (Potomac, Md./Walt Whitman) and sophomore coxswain Rita McCoy (Lansdowne, Pa./Archbishop Prendergast), was coming off a silver medal at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championship. The shell topped that accomplishment on Saturday with a gold medal finish and avenged a loss to Dayton, who was the only boat to beat them at SIRAs. The Pioneers completed the course in 7:11.4, ahead of second place Dayton (7:13.8), as well as Purdue (7:29.1), Marquette (7:30.0), Ohio State (7:30.5), Miami (7:35.3) and Wheaton (7:42.7).

The Freshmen/Novice 8+, whose lineup changed slightly for the second straight week and included stroke Niklas Von Kuczkowski (Hanover, Germany/Culver Military Academy), Stephen Baranoski (Meriden, Conn./Xavier), Devin Turley (Herdon, Va./Westfield), Zach McGurk (Alexandria, Va./Bishop O'Connell), William Charlton (New Vernon, N.J./Berkshire), Daniel Bratton (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), Daniel Mills (Fairport, N.Y.), bow Nathan Capers (Orlando, Fla./Edgewater) and coxswain Thomas Dougherty (Lansdowne, Pa./Monsignor Bonner), was the next to race. Marietta finished in 6:31.9, which placed it third behind winner Purdue (6:28.7) and Notre Dame (6:29.6). Milwaukee School of Engineering (6:33.3), Michigan (6:33.8) and Minnesota (6:48.2) rounded out the finishers in the Grand Final.

The Freshmen/Novice 4+ closed out the competition for the Pioneers with another gold medal performance. The shell, which featured newcomer Tyler Swaim (Wellesley, Mass.) at stroke as well as Zach Mateja (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion), Gregory Clair (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), bow Michael Cute (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) and coxswain Kristina Markman (Columbia, Md./Atholton), beat its five opponents to the line, rowing a 7:32.8. Milwaukee School of Engineering (7:38.7) was second, while Michigan State (7:50.7), Marquette (7:55.4), Michigan (7:58.8) and Dayton (8:10.2) all trailed Marietta across the finish.

Marietta now turns its attention to Dad Vails, which will take place May 9-10 on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa.