Havilland Campbell and Tim Faxon won the silver medal in the varsity pair at the IRA Championship Regatta.

June 6, 2004

CAMDEN, N.J.–For the first time in school history, the Hobart crew team entered into Saturday’s racing at the IRA Championships with two boats in grand finals.

The varsity pair, senior Havilland Campbell (LaSalle/Philadelphia, Pa.) and sophomore Timothy Faxon (Salisbury School/Pelham, Mass.), earned a place in the finals after winning their heat on Thursday morning by nine seconds over the next closest finisher, Wisconsin.

In Saturday’s final the Statesmen pair got off to a slow start and were in fifth place coming into the last 500 meters. With an amazing sprint to the finish Hobart pushed back into the field to grab silver, finishing second only to Cornell, 2.07 seconds ahead of the Statesmen.

"Havilland and Tim reflect the resilient spirit of Hobart crew," Head Coach Mike Guerrieri said. "They were down off the start but it just goes to show you can never count a Statesman out."

The varsity-4+--junior Michael Hoepp (Choate Rosemary Hall/Bedford, N.H.), and sophomores Gavin Johnstone-Butcher (St. Paul's School (N.H.)/Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), Gardner Loring (Middlesex/Duxbury, Mass.), J.M. Chadonic (The Lawrenceville School/New York, N.Y.), and Daniel Gilbert (Brighton/Rochester, N.Y.)--began the regatta in dramatic fashion. In its preliminary heat, in tail wind conditions, the four pulled no punches and went after defending champion Washington.

The two boats were locked into a battle down the course, exchanging the lead several times. The intense competition put both boats over the finish line more than 16 seconds ahead of the rest of their heat and eight seconds ahead of the next fastest time out of the remaining three heats. Washington pulled ahead in the final stroke to prevail by 0.46 seconds, sending Hobart to the repechage race later that day.

The Statesmen won their repechage handily, crossing the line nearly five seconds ahead of the second place four from St. Joseph’s University. On Friday the wind switched around and in its semifinal, Hobart finished third, to secure a spot in the grand final.

In the final, the Statesmen lead early but were out gunned in the head wind conditions by the much stronger field. They improved one spot by holding off Harvard University to finish fifth out of the 24 entries.

“We knew that the tail wind conditions of Thursday offered the best chances for us to advance, so the Hobart four plus attacked Washington right away," Guerrieri said. "The winner of the heat would get to rest later that day.

"It was a valiant effort that fell just short. The Hobart men certainly turned a lot of heads in that race and continued to do so for the remainder of the regatta.”

The freshmen eight--Nick Hoagland (Millbrook School/New York, N.Y.), Ben Draper (The Branson School/San Anselmo, Calif.), Nate Kress (Ithaca/Ithaca, N.Y.), Mike Grenier (Brooks School/Methuen, Mass.), Joseph Jameson (Brebeuf Jesuit/Indianapolis, Ind.), Dave Drennan (Greenhills School/Ann Arbor, Mich.), Rob Reinheimer (Cheverus/Bowdoinham, Maine), Paul Wasmund (Fabius-Pompey/Fabius, N.Y.), Sep Levatich (Ithaca/Brooktondale, N.Y.)--raced well placing fourth in its opening heat and third in its repechage to earn a spot in the semifinals.

Hobart’s semifinal time of 6:14.74 earned the Statesmen a spot in the third level final and the right to race on Saturday. The Hobart freshmen finished the regatta 18th out of 24 entries.

“The freshmen raced well throughout the weekend and defeated some great crews, including Dad Vail champion Marietta in the semifinal,” Guerrieri said. “Earning a spot in Saturday’s racing was a great accomplishment for the freshmen who were competing in this event for the fist time in school history.”

Overall the Statesmen improved five places over last year in the Ten Eyck points trophy tally, finishing 22nd out of 49 schools. They were the highest finishing Division III school at the regatta.