WV4 places seventh of 27 crews in open fours; MN4 earns gold medal

LOWELL, Mass. (October 1, 2007) - The Franklin Pierce men's and women's rowing teams opened their 2007 head season at the Textile River Regatta on the Merrimack River on Sunday.

Franklin Pierce's women's varsity four turned in a seventh-place finish out of 27 crews in the women's open division, completing the four-mile course in 26:18.453. MIT's A crew captured the gold medal with a time of 25:33.474. Franklin Pierce placed ahead of crews from Bowdoin College, University of Massachusetts, Worcester Polytechnic and the University of Vermont.

Rowing for Franklin Pierce were senior Blair Granum (Worcester, Mass./Doherty Memorial) at stroke, junior Cassie Ela (Lancaster, Mass./Nashoba Regional) in the two seat, senior Gwenn Curtis (Falls Village, Conn./Housatonic Valley) at the three seat and senior Katherine Surgen (Westhampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional) in the bow, with junior Vanessa Leon (Lenox, Mass./Lenox) as the coxswain.

Franklin Pierce's men's varsity eight turned in an eighth place finish in the open division, completing the four miles in 22:17.481. WPI took the gold medal with a time of 20:19.410. Rowing for the Ravens were sophomore Ian Randall (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) at stroke, senior William Eroh (Meriden, Conn./Lyman Hall) at the two seat, sophomore Brett Dicrescenzo (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) at three seat, junior Josh Marker (Lockport, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) at four seat, sophomore Pat Brosnan (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greely) at five seat, sophomore Wade Rogers (West Greenwich, R.I./Exeter-West Greenwich Regional) at six seat, sophomore Isaac Breton (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) in the seven seat and freshman Kai Dadian (Saint Louis, Mo./University City) in the bow, with senior Brittany Bonesteel (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) as the coxswain.

Franklin Pierce's men's varsity four posted an 11^th-place finish in the open division, completing the four-mile course in 23:29.180. WPI earned the gold medal with a time of 21:34.693, but the Ravens finished ahead of crews from Middlebury College (A crew) and Brandeis (A). Rowing for the Ravens were Randall at stroke, Eroh in the two seat, Dicrescenzo in the three seat and Marker in the bow, with sophomore Jessica Ward (Arlington, Va./Washington-Lee) as the coxswain.

A sign that the future of the men's program is strong is a gold medal finish for the men's novice four. Franklin Pierce completed the four-mile course in 24:22.008, defeating Massachusetts Maritime Academy (25:06.237) and Bowdoin Rowing Association (25:52.555). Rowing for the Ravens were sophomore Tim Cardiello (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) at stroke, sophomore Jon Gordon (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) in the two seat, Dadian at three season and freshman Corey Pinney (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) in the bow, with Ward as the coxswain.

Franklin Pierce is back on the water on Saturday, October 13, for the New Hampshire Rowing Championships a few miles upstream on the Merrimack River.