April 14, 2004

GENEVA, N.Y.—Coming off of three solid victories early in the 2004 season, the Hobart College crew team jumped to 20th in the USRowing Collegiate Varsity Eight Poll with 31 votes. Defending IRA champions, Harvard University tops the rankings with 13 first place votes. The lone Division III school to receive recognition, this is the first time the program has been ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation.

“Our solid 2003 fall season results coupled with our early spring success have helped us attain this recognition," Head Coach Mike Guerrieri said. “It's now up to us to back up the poll results with more hard work and a continued determination to reach our goals.”

Hobart started the 2004 season with a bang, stunning then 13th-ranked University of Michigan by 7.6 seconds and easily outracing Ithaca College by 11.2 seconds. The Statesmen followed that with another dominant performance the next weekend, defeating the Bombers again to capture the Statesmen Duel Race Trophy. Hobart earned its third victory of the season, a week later, with a resounding 17.42 second victory.

In the varsity boat for each of Hobart’s three victories was senior stroke Havilland Campbell (LaSalle/Philadelphia, Pa.), junior Michael Hoepp (Choate Rosemary Hall/Bedford, N.H.), sophomores JM Chadonic (The Lawrenceville School/New York, N.Y.), Timothy Faxon (Salsbury/Pelham, N.Y.),Gavin Johnstone-Butcher (St. Paul’s School/Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), and Gardner Loring (Middlesex/Duxbury, Mass.), and first-years Michael Grenier (Brooks School/Methuen, Mass.) and Sep Levatich (Ithaca/Brooktondale, N.Y.).

Sophomore Dan Gilbert (Brighton/Rochester, N.Y.) coxswained the Statesmen in the victories over Michigan and RIT, while senior Sarah Roberts (Burnt Hills Ballston Lake/Burnt Hills, N.Y.) led the varsity eight to victory over Ithaca College.

The Statesmen will put their 3-0 record to the test on April 18, when Colgate visits Hellstrom Boathouse at 10 a.m. The winner of the race will take home the Seneca Cup. Hobart has won three of the four past Seneca Cup races, including last season’s 1.5-second victory over the Raiders.