This past weekend, Colgate hosted the annual Seneca Cup on Lake Moraine in Hamilton. The Raiders defeated Hobart College and took the cup for the fifth consecutive year. The Raiders’ varsity boat consisted of senior coxswain Chris Monterosso and senior rowers Kurt Miller, Parker Paulin, Willie Fox, Peter Leahey, Eddie Gastel, junior rower Mark Robson and sophomore rowers James Clinton and Sam Walker. The team clocked an impressive 4:38 in the 1500 meters race, finishing two seconds ahead of the Hobart squad.

Only one Colgate boat competed in the JV race against two Hobart boats. Most competitors on the JV team are underclassmen. The team has shown consistent improvement throughout the fall and into the spring season. The JV team is coxed by sophomore Kristen Stonehill. The rest of the boat is made up of first-years Gavin Henriquez, Rob Bickhart, Kenley Unruh and Ben Jones, sophomores Matt Woodrow and James Clinton, junior Marc Cassone and senior Oliver Jensen. The Raiders finished with a time of 4:44, this time two seconds after the first Hobart boat. The second Hobart boat finished ten seconds after the Raiders.

The Seneca Cup has always been a special race for the Raiders. Senior Kurt Miller echoed this sentiment.

“We have a strong rivalry with Hobart and it really brings out the competitiveness in the team. I’m pretty sure that if you asked any of my teammates which race is the most important to them this season, they would say the Seneca Cup,” Miller said. “There are 7 seniors on the team, and we have contributed to winning the race every year we’ve been at Colgate, and we didn’t want to go out as the class that finally handed the cup over to Hobart.”

The Raiders face some tough competition ahead, but these next matches will be crucial if the Raiders want to compete in nationals.

Miller said, “We’ll have a tough duel race against MIT this weekend in Boston, MIT recently took down Princeton’s top-10 ranked team. After that we race in the Dadvail Regatta in Philadelphia, and we have to place first or second in order to qualify for rowing nationals.

The women’s rowing team competed in the Little Three Championship hosted by Williams College last weekend. Unfortunately, the varsity four and novice races were cancelled due to high winds and dangerous water conditions. However, the varsity eight team competed in the only event of the day, placing third with a time of 7:35.6. Williams first boat won the race with a time of 7:17.2, followed closely by Williams second boat. Wesleyan took fourth place, while UVM finished last in the race. The Raiders varsity eight boat consisted of seniors Meredith Remmer and Sarah Kruse, juniors Allison Patchen, Vicky Hulit, Lauren Schmetterling, sophomores Annabelle Glass, Kalin Hennegan and first-year Britt Woodbury.

The team will compete in the Patriot League championships this upcoming weekend in Camden County, New Jersey.