Oct. 24, 2010

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle men's varsity eight crew was back on the water on Sunday with a strong performance at the 46th Annual Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, the world's largest two-day rowing event.

The Explorers clocked a 15:37.714, less than a minute off of the winning time of 14:43.37 posted by the Florida Institute of Technology. The boat finished in the top 15, with a 14th place finish out of 42 teams in the race. With a finish in the top half of the race, the Explorers qualified to return to the historic regatta next season.

The team faced stiff competition as 41 of the 42 teams posted adjusted times all within three minutes of each other. The Explorers were 2.8 seconds behind Minnesota, and beat out Williams College and Georgia Tech by two seconds.

Manning the Varsity 8 boat on Sunday were: Keith Ferguson (coxswain), Giovanni Finazzo, Michael Hopp, Matt Horn, Brett Kader, Patrick McElroy, Matthew Morgan-Gibbs, Matt Schluckebier and Jonathan Shank.

More than 8,000 athletes from around the world competed in 55 events over the weekend (courtesy hocr.org), with the Explorers making their first appearance in a number of years.

The La Salle men's and women's crews return to the water next Saturday (10/30) for the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta on their home water in Philadelphia.