w returned to the boathouse for the fall season in late August, they were in disbelief to fnd new equipment. While this is commonplace in many sports, it is rarely the case in crew. Think of a basketball team surprised at the sight of a new court or a hockey team with a new arena – this is the scale of the surprise that head coach Greg Kruczynski had for the Raider women.

Upon the team’s arrival, a brand new, state-of-the-art, jet black Vespoli V1 eight-person shell was perched mightily on the rack, awaiting its inaugural row and dedication. While the inaugural row came a week into the season, the boat was officially named and dedicated Saturday during a ceremony attended by University President Rebecca Chopp and select administrators, chiefly coming from the Athletic Department. Also in attendance was a contingent of the Glendening family, the generous benefactors of the Colgate boathouse, which was finished in April 2004. The team, which purchased the new boat with donations, decided to name it after the woman for whom the boathouse is honorably named.

“[The Glendening Boathouse] is truly a fantastic addition to our athletic facilities and gives Colgate rowing a significant advantage, both in terms of athlete comfort and recruiting,” Kruczynski said. “The team unanimously agreed that the best way to show our appreciation would be to take the boathouse on the road with us.”

Hence, the “Catherine Long Glendening” was christened with champagne, in traditional style, by a very surprised and delighted John Glendening ’38, husband of the late Catherine. Bob Glendening ’77, son of John and Catherine, noted the appropriateness of the boat’s name, citing the emotional strength of many Glendening women, a quality that he felt was especially evident in his mother.

The following day, the men and women’s teams took to the water against Hamilton College. Both Colgate squads came out victorious, taking full charge of their home course on Lake Moraine. This also marked the first competition for the Colgate men’s and women’s novice crew teams, who performed very well.

The men’s team entered the contest with two varsity eights, two novice eights, two fours with coxswain, a pair without coxswain and a single scull. Nearly all of the team members raced in more than one event.

In the varsity eight category, Colgate A took first, followed by Colgate B, who gained solid ground on third-place Hamilton. As for the small boats, Colgate A and B came in consecutively in the fours, followed by the Colgate pair, the Hamilton single sculler and finally the Colgate single sculler. Raider novice crews took charge of their event, placing first and second, with Hamilton again a good distance behind in third place. The race as a whole was an opportunity for the Raider crews to try out new lineups in the fours, pair and single, while the novices made their racing debut.

Men’s assistant coach Warren Holland was pleased with the performance his team put forth on Sunday.

“It was a good experience for the novices who raced for the first time, but it is still too early to make predictions for the novice men this year,” Holland said. “While a win over Hamilton shows promise, we will need to step up our performance in order to do well against more experienced opponents.”

The women’s squad also entered two varsity eights, two novice eights and two fours with coxswain. Colgate A rowed its newly christened varsity eight shell to victory, followed by Colgate B, Hamilton A, Hamilton B, Colgate C and Colgate D. For the Raiders, the C and D crews were comprised completely of novice rowers in their first-ever competition. Some of the women doubled-up by rowing in the four with coxswain event; both Colgate crews overtook the two Hamilton crews, sweeping the event.

This weekend, the teams will be traveling to Boston to compete in the legendary Head of the Charles Regatta, taking on teams from around the world. The Regatta is the largest and most storied competition of its kind in all of rowing, and the Raiders look to make a very good impression on a big stage.