ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Marietta College men's crew continued its 2009 fall season Sunday (Oct. 11) when the Pioneer Navy sent its Varsity 8+ and two other boats to the 21st annual Head of the Genesee Invitational Regatta at Genesee Valley Park. The event featured numerous collegiate teams from the Northeast United States and Canada. [Results]

The Head of the Genesee, formerly know as the Stonehurst Invitational, draws top competition due to its unique regatta format. In the morning, crews competed over a three-mile head race course. In the afternoon, crews were paired based on their head race results, for a 1,500-meter sprint race. A formula helped determine the final placement of each boat.

Marietta's Varsity 8+ went head-to-head with 27 different crews, including the team's own Junior Varsity 8+, in the featured open event. Of those 27 boats, only three shells from Brown University and a fourth from University of Western Ontario were non-collegiate crews.

The Pioneers' primary boat, which sat coxswain Thomas Dougherty (Lansdowne, Pa., Monsignor Bonner), stroke Steven Williamson (Moon Township, Pa., Central Catholic), Zach McGurk (Alexandria, Va., Bishop O'Connell), Devin Turley (Herndon, Va., Westfield), James Smith (Atlantic City, N.J., Holy Spirit), Steven Little (Seattle, Wash., Bishop Blanchet), Ben Charley (Pittsburgh, Pa., Winchester Thurston), Patrick Cleveland (New Canaan, Conn.) and bow Mike Flanagan (Absecon, N.J., Holy Spirit), finished the morning head race in 15:19.20 to put them in fourth place overall and first in the collegiate division. Brown A was the first across the line, finishing in 14:36.25, while Brown B was second in 14:55.23 and Western Ontario was third in 15:13.84.

The top four placements in the afternoon sprint race remained the same as Brown A had the fastest time with a mark of 4:16.58. Brown B finished second in 4:23.04, Western Ontario was third in 4:24.47 and Marietta took fourth in 4:26.78. Marietta, who finished runner-up in last year's collegiate division, took home its second gold medal in as many weeks as the Pioneer also won the Head of the Ohio on Oct. 3.

Marietta's JV8+, which featured coxswain Chad Rummler (Seaville, NJ, Ocean City), stroke Richie Fredericks (Seaville, N.J., Ocean City), Nico Richey (Egg Harbor Township, N.J., St. Augustine), Robert Hune-Kalter (Marietta, Marietta), Brian Timlin (Aston, Pa., Sun Valley), John Porter (Bethesda, Md., Walt Whitman), Leo Tannheimer (Lowell, Mass., Lowell), Gregory Clair (Pittsburgh, Pa., Central Catholic) and bow John Chester (Petersburg, N.J., Ocean City), took 12th overall in the morning head race with a time of 16:01.49. The Pioneers were the second fastest JV boat in the morning's race. They then placed 14th in the sprint race after crossing the line in 4:38.78 but were hit with a 10 second penalty and fell back to 15th place in the final standings.

The Pioneers' Varsity Lightweight 8+, which included coxswain Kendra Canter (Marietta, Marietta), stroke Ethan Shoemaker (Westerville, North), Matt Newsome (Petersburg, N.J., Ocean City), Andrew Hazelrigg (Orlando, Fla., Olympia), Jim Furl (Marietta, Marietta), Drew Schulte (Parma, St. Ignatius), James Inks (McDonald, Pa., Seton-La Salle), Tim Shields (Seaville, N.J., St. Augustine Prep.) and bow Michael Cute (Philadelphia, Pa., Roman Catholic) raced only one boat in its event on Sunday. Western Ontario took first after rowing the head race in 15:18.37 and then the sprint race in 4:27.11. Marietta crossed the line in the morning with a time of 15:55.65 and then rowed an afternoon time of 4:41.39.

Marietta is back in action on Nov. 7 when the Pioneers host the Head of the Muskingum. The program will also host its annual Alumni vs. Freshmen race during Homecoming on Saturday (Oct. 17). Those festivities will begin at 8 a.m.