The 1200 Mile Race
The Aztecs went the distance on Tuesday, blending competitive spirit and 21st century innovation by holding third annual Erg Duel with Washington State University via Skpe video chat. By plugging a laptop into the monitor in the ergometer room, the teams were able to stream a live feed of the erg competitions to each other in real time as each athlete pulled a 4000 meter erg piece. With set boatings established by lightweight and heavyweight, the scores from each boat were averaged to determine the fastest boat and the winning crew.
The Novice contest proved itself to be fierce, with outstanding times from Josh Lane, Philip Pensakov, Lukas Poteracke, Garen Stein, and Novice Captain Rob Rowenhurst. All of whom pulled Varsity level times. The 2015 Novice squad proved itself tough, beating the times of last year’s 2014 class of Novice. Despite the performance, the Novice heavyweight crew lost by three seconds on the 500 meter split score, while the lightweights lost by only one second on their 500 meter split score.
The coxswains 500 meter race was the rower’s favorite event of the night. Every oarsmen capitalized on the opportunity to coach their coxswain through the piece. The Aztecs came out on top with Varsity Coxswain Kendall Lyng easily pulling ahead of the competition.
The Varsity duel succumbed to controversy as Washington’s Varsity team decided to scratch the event. Coach Arthur Ericsson commented on the decision: “Our varsity coach had committed to the erg duel over a month ago but with the upcoming entry in the Head of the Charles regatta this Saturday, he had scheduled a 6k for Monday. Unfortunately he was distracted and chose to prioritize the upcoming race”. The competition will surely be settled later in the month when the Aztecs travel to Sacramento and the shores of Lake Natoma to race at Head of the American on October 24th .
SDSU Mens Crew is looking for support at Head of the American. If you would like to help with supplying food for athletes, please email President Brandt Watson at sdsucrewpresident@gmail.com
