Men’s Crew Repeats as Conference Champions for 5th Consecutive Year

Saturday, May 2

Camden, N.J.

9 a.m.

Bucknell University

MARC Championship

2026 MARC Varsity 8 Champions

Photo by: Rob Pungello Media

Men’s Crew Repeats as Conference Champions for 5th Consecutive Year

5/4/2026 3:01:00 PM | Men's Crew

Men's crew had nine crews racing at the Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference Championships on Saturday at the Cooper River in Pennsauken, NJ. With a mix of D3 and club competition, the MARC tested the Bison against #7 nationally ranked Delaware, George Washington, local rival Lehigh, and D3 #5 ranked Marietta, among others. 60-degree temps and a gentle tailwind set the day for some great spring racing. Looking to repeat for the 5th year in a row as team champs, the team knew that they had the target on their backs. Official results for the day can be found here.

The varsity 8, led down the course by senior bowman John Kirincich, started the day strong with an open water victory in the heats to advance to the final. In the final, the crew started well and established a half length lead over the field but never broke free from Marietta. With Marietta walking back on the crew in the last 500, the varsity 8 sprinted and hung on to win in a time of 5:53.4, just half a second over Marietta. Senior stroke seat Chris Kirby had this to say about the racing: "We knew that coming into this race it would be a hard fought battle to come ahead of the field. With the addition of Delaware and Marietta to the MARC we knew it would be neck and neck down the course. The last 500 of the race was some of the closest racing we as a boat have had all year and it was a great feeling to finish on top. It's great to walk away with the team points trophy all of my four years at Bucknell; every year the conference gets more competitive and harder to win but this team knows how to rise to the occasion and show up. We are excited to tune up our speed over the next two weeks to hit ACRAs at full speed."

Despite winning their heat in the morning, the second varsity 8 knew they had to pull off a better race in the afternoon in order to compete for the win. The crew improved from 2 and 3 second margins over GW and Lehigh in the heat to 12 and 14 second margins in the final. Unfortunately, a strong Marietta crew was able to come through the boat in the second half of the final to take the win, with the Bison taking 2nd place. Junior Tiarnan Nowak said that "it was great to compete against high-caliber ACRA teams which pushed us to improve from the first to the second race. Seeing the boat improve and the overall team's success serve as big motivation factors heading into the next two weeks as we prepare for Oak Ridge."

The varsity 4 took the lead early in their heat and finished ahead of the 2nd place crew by 20 seconds. Looking to repeat their dominance in the final, junior coxswain Luke Catalanello repeated the phrase "go for gold." The crew did just that, winning by almost 10 seconds. Junior Will Curtis noted the importance of their race to the team finish, saying "we were super happy that we were able to help the team secure the team points trophy for a 5th year in a row!"

The 3rd and 4th varsity 8s raced together in the same final event. Dropped off the start, the 3rd varsity 8 held on to Delaware through the body of the race and made a push to reel them in during the second half of the race, but it was too little too late, as they finished 2nd, 4.2 seconds behind Delaware. The 4th varsity 8 finished in 4th. Junior Conor Orkin had this to say about the day: "Despite the suboptimal result, we'll take what we learned from this race and use it as fuel and motivation heading into ACRAs. Huge congrats to the whole team for winning the MARC five times in a row!"

The four remaining Bucknell crews all won their events, with the freshman four winning their race five seconds ahead of the 2nd place Bucknell 2nd varsity four. In the varsity double, Bucknell went one-two, with the "A" crew winning the event by 22 seconds and the "B" crew finishing in 2nd place, four seconds ahead of third.

Assistant coach Jack Lieblein noted how "every boat was a display of our speed, and that's why we brought home the points trophy again. Now the focus is translating that full-team speed to ACRA." The team will spend the next two weeks preparing for the national championship regatta on May 15th-17th in Oak Ridge, TN.

1st Varsity 8+ – 2025 Hudson U8.32 Ultra Super Predator "Stealth"
Coxswain: Tyler Leong, Jr.
Stroke: Christopher Kirby, Sr.
7: Ryan Genel Sr.
6: Neil Davidek, So.
5: Jacob Mohr, Jr.
4: Kristian Komorowski, Jr.
3: Soren Stein, Jr.
2: Tanner Tighelaar, Jr.
Bow: John Kirincich, Sr.

2nd Varsity 8+ – 2022 Hudson S8.32 Super Predator
Coxswain: Sean Doherty, So.
Stroke: Tennyson Kelly, Jr.
7: Sebastian Brandt, Jr.
6: Tiarnan Nowak, Jr.
5: Van Lurton, Fr.
4: Zach Cantor, Fr.
3: Cornelius Nichilo, Jr.
2: Jack McSwain, Fr.
Bow: James Harris, Fr.

3rd Varsity 8+ – 2024 Hudson U8.43 Ultra Super Predator "Shark"
Coxswain: Regine Escher, Jr.
Stroke: Wesley Peot, Jr.
7: Oliver Abushacra, Sr.
6: Cristofer Santanna, So.
5: Connor Orkin, Jr.
4: Aidan Cassidy, So.
3: Jackson Lilley, So.
2: Jack Greenleaf, Jr.
Bow: Travis Stanitis, Sr.

4th Varsity 8+ – 2022 Hudson S8.32 Super Predator
Coxswain: Tyler Leong, Jr.
Stroke: Charlie Theodore, So.
7: Sam Langlois, So.
6: Tommy Smith, Jr.
5: Chris Morale, Sr.
4: Matt Barbella, Fr.
3: Ben Cowan, So.
2: Franklin Enkhmandakh, So.
Bow: Charlie Magistro, Fr.

V4+ - Class of 2011
Coxswain: Luke Catalanello, Jr.
Stroke: Tim Robertson, Sr.
3: Ryan Firestone, Sr
2: Joe Hofmann, Jr.
Bow: Will Curtis, So.

Freshman 4+ – Free Speed
Coxswain: Brendan Seay, Fr.
Stroke: Aidan Arouh, Fr.
3: Drew Geoca, Fr.
2: Reilly Hope, Fr.
1: Joseph Frangie, Fr.

2V4+ - Sister Coach D
Coxswain: Sebby Nunez, Fr.
Stroke: Griffin Walsh, Sr.
3: Zac Snyder, So.
2: Michael Borao, Fr.
Bow: Will Blumenthal, Sr.

Varsity Double A - Swift 2x
Stroke: Tommy Smith, Jr.
Bow: Miles Clyde, Jr.

Varsity Double B - Swift 2x
Stroke: Chris Morale, Sr.
Bow: Hunter Cassidy, So.