Georgetown crew sent five boats to the 38th Annual Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston last weekend. Three men’s boats and two women’s boats competed in races Saturday and Sunday, facing windy conditions and stiff competition. The Hoyas’ Champ Eights, the fastest boats each team has to offer, had mixed results. Both the men’s and women’s lightweight teams finished 12th while the men’s and women’s heavyweights finished 23rd and 35th, respectively.

The prestigious race is considered to be one of the top events in American rowing, attracting varsity and club teams from universities across the country, as well as national teams from around the world.

Georgetown finished with mixed results, but Men’s Crew Head Coach Tony Johnson stressed that the Head of the Charles is not all about winning.

“Placing does not tell you everything,” Johnson said. “Top-notch American crews, and some foreign crews as well, compete at the Head of the Charles. If you like to compete, it is a good opportunity to see how you match up with everybody.”

Men’s crew competed well overall, placing two of three boats in the top 15. The Lightweight Varsity Eight finished 12th out of 25 crews and had a strong race overall. The Lightweight Eight featured, from bow to stern, senior Brian MacLaughlin, sophomore Cameron Booth, sophomore Kyle Hatton, senior Andrew Adler sophomore Blair Berbert, senior Todd Johnson, junior Cameron Smith and sophomore James O’Gara. Junior coxswain Mina Khosravi rounded out the crew.

The 16-minute race was not an easy one for the Lightweight Eight, which found itself battling for a position with the MIT boat that began the race one spot in front of Georgetown. The MIT boat attempted to block Georgetown from passing, but the Hoyas crossed the finish line ahead of their rivals after a charge in the final 2000m.

The Lightweight Four also faced close competition in its race, as Georgetown, starting from the 11th spot, narrowed the gap to even up with the Rutgers and Yale crews, which began ninth and 10th, respectively. Unfortunately for the Hoyas, a collision with the Rutgers boat allowed Yale to surge ahead, while bringing the other two crews to a standstill. Georgetown recovered to finish the race in 18:10 and in 14th place.

The Lightweight Four was manned by sophomore coxswain Louis Seferis, senior Tim Joyce, sophomore Brad Kuntschner, sophomore John Fenwick and junior Tony Leotti. The Heavyweight Championship Eight started their race in 23rd position, behind the 87 Gold Rowing Club, a crew that was the 1987 World Champion U.S. Team. The Hoyas battled with the experienced 87 Gold boat, and ultimately finished the race by maintaining their position at 23rd. Georgetown’s final time in the race was 15:49, only 1:06 off the first place finisher, which happened to be the U.S. National Team.

The Championship Eight featured senior coxswain Alex Taft, sophomore Matt Hallisey, senior Dave Fernandez, senior Noah Bergman, senior David Benchener, senior Tyler Holt, sophomore Scott Stapleton, junior Eric Hilmo and junior Andrew Brown.

Benchener said the team was pleased with the outcome of the race. “We had a good first third of the race and a good finish,” Benchener said. “The middle third was not so good and we slowed down a bit. We need to work on maintaining our speed.”

He also pointed out that Georgetown improved overall in relation to the U.S. National Team. A unique aspect of the Head of the Charles is that final times are recorded as percentages of the event winner’s times. This year, the Championship Eight finished 6.2 percent behind the winner, compared to an 8.2 percent difference from a year ago.

Women’s crew competed in two events at the Head of the Charles. The Lightweight Eight, in its first appearance at the event, passed two crews along the way to a 19:00, good for 12th out of 24 crews.

Women’s Crew Head Coach Jimmy King explained that the team had expected to do better. “They had a good technical race and were focused from start to finish,” King said. “They got out of the water in good spirits and were a bit disappointed in the results. But this is a young group, and this was a big step forward for them.”

The Lightweight Eight included senior coxswain Caitlin Huntley, junior Mary Kennedy, junior Allison Dryer, sophomore Jessica Barker, senior Stephanie Kinzel, senior Kara Ethier, junior Emily Dempsey and junior Margaret Plimpton.

In contrast to the relative success of the Lightweight Eight, the Openweight Eight turned in a disappointing performance, finishing in 18:20.

“Everyone agreed the race was pretty disappointing,” King said. “They had a good beginning and end, but the middle was not too good. We definitely performed below expectations.”

Adding to the Hoyas’ woes was a collision with the Rutgers boat, which slowed the crew down significantly.

Manning the Openweight Eight boat was sophomore coxswain Emma Jurado, sophomore Ashley Ahearn, junior Rachel Pacheco, junior Katie Kennedy, sophomore Lauren Hodapp, senior Justine Landegger, sophomore Minta Madeley, sophomore Maggie Donnelly and senior Jessica Maley.

As a final note, Women’s Crew Assistant Coach Hilary Gehman won the Women’s Doubles Championship with Kelly Salchow. The winning time of 19:26.664 was less than a second better than that of the runner-up, and made Gehman a two-time doubles champion.