Hannah Posson
hep001@marietta.edu
This past Saturday (Oct. 29) Marietta College Crew teams competed in a home race on the Muskingum River. The Muskie Chase regatta was held at the newly renovated Lindamood-Van Voorhis boathouse.
Construction on the boathouse began in June of this year and was finished just in time for Homecoming. The renovated boathouse creates a state of the art rowing facility that the team can house their boats in as well as their ergometer machines and is even equipped with a study room for the athletes.
“The new renovations are honestly surreal to me. Every time I walk in [the boathouse] I’m reminded of how lucky I am to have the opportunity to row out of such an amazing facility,” senior Shelby Westfield said.
The rowers were finally able to show off the new boathouse this past weekend when they hosted their home race of the fall season.
Teams from all over Ohio came to compete in Marietta. Schools included Case Western Reserve University, Ohio State University, Dayton University, and the University of Cincinnati.
The Marietta women’s varsity four-manned boat placed first in their race. The race course was a total of 6,000 meters along the Muskingum River.
When asked how the new facility impacted their racing, Westfield said “I think as a group, that was in the back of our minds as we raced down the Muskingum. It’s motivation to push ourselves and make sure we earn the right to race out of such an amazing facility.”
The Marietta men’s novice four placed first in their category for the 6,000 meter race, as well as all three of the 500 meter sprint races.
“The new facility really sets the tone for racing on a varsity team,” Brooks Spires, a freshman on the rowing team, said. “With a brand new boathouse, it’s hard not to feel motivated to come to practice everyday and take advantage of it.”
The men’s varsity eight category had a timing error so there were no official results for the 6,000 meter race, which left it to the 500 meter races to determine the winner. When the men’s eight set out for the three 500 meter sprints, they finished second in the first sprint and then were able to capture first in the remaining two sprints, allowing them to claim the Muskie Cup.
Overall, Saturday was a successful day for the Marietta College crew as they were able to not only utilize the new boathouse for a home race but also bring home great results.
