PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (5/12/10) - Senior Marc Cassone (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) and sophomore Rob Bickhart (Villanova, Pa.) advanced to the Men’s Varsity Pair Bob Negaard Cup Final at the Dad Vail Regatta this past weekend. Colgate entered three boats at the regatta, the men’s pair, Novice Four and Varsity Four, with all three advancing out of their first round heats.
Cassone and Bickhart won their opening heat, in which the top three teams advanced to the semifinals. Colgate crossed the finish line with a time of 7:28.243 followed by Ohio St. at 7:31.067 and Minnesota at 7:35.459. The top two teams in the semifinal advanced to the final race. St. Thomas finished in the top spot with a time of 7:12.311 closely followed by Colgate at 7:14.657. In the final race the duo finished fourth with a time of 7:33.968. Drexel earned the Cup with a time of 7:17.430 followed by St. Thomas, Fairfield, Colgate, Pittsburgh and Penn St.
The varsity four boat also won their opening heat in which the first two boats advanced to the semifinals. The Raiders edged out Iona with a time of 6:33.083 with Iona coming in at 6:37.873. Also racing in the heat were Washington College, Carnegie Mellon and Ohio University. Only two boats from the semifinal race would advance to the final. In one of the closer races of the day, the Raiders finished just over one second behind the first-place boat but still came in fourth. Lafayette crossed the line first with a time of 6:39.251 followed by Middlebury at 6:39.291, Amherst at 6:39.367 and Colgate at 6:40.961. Racing in the Raiders boat were James Clinton (Vancouver, B.C.), Sam Walker (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Matt Woodrow (Glenview, Ill.), Cassone and Rob Hendrickson as coxswain.
The novice four boat also advanced to one of the semifinal races after finishing second in their first heat. Minnesota earned the top spot in the Raiders opening heat with a time of 7:04.538 followed by Colgate at 7:05.956. Dayton, Dowling and American were also entered in the race. In the semifinal race, in which the top two advance, the Raiders fell just short coming in at third place with a time of 6:57.345. Mercyhurst won the semifinal with a time of 6:45.407 followed by Purdue at 6:53.361. N.Y. Maritime and Villanova finished in the fourth and fifth spots. Racing in the novice boat were Owen Myers (Winnetka, Ill.), Stephen Dickinson (Malvern, Pa.), Spencer Brooks, Pierre Gross (Acton, Mass.) and May Bayer (Boston, Mass.) as coxswain.