ST. CATHARINES, ONT – The McGill men's rowing club produced five podium finishes to end up fourth of 14 schools overall at the Ontario University Athletics rowing championship held at the famed Royal Henley course in Southern Ontario, Saturday.
 
The Redbirds registered a pair of silver medal finishes and three bronzes. It was the team's highest placing since 2016, when they also ended up fourth and had nine podiums.
 
Jocelyn Blanchet, a doctorate student from St. Polycarpe, Que., finished second in the men's varsity heavyweight single with a time of seven minutes, 49 seconds, edging out the third-place boat from Queen's by one second.
 
The crew's other second-place result was by Victor Rolland, a native of Lyon, France,  in the varsity lightweight single. The master's student in mechanical engineering crossed the finish line in 7:20, out-distancing third-place Carleton by a huge 10-second gap.
 
McGill's bronze medal performances were in the heavyweight pair, double and eight.
 
The pair was made up of Wyatt Gilbert of Toronto in the stroke seat and Markus Maile, a mechanical engineering sophomore from Vancouver, B.C., in the bow. They clocked in at 6:55, beating fourth-place Brock by 10 seconds.
 
The double featured Trevor Probst (stroke) of Greenwich, Conn., and Craig McCullogh (bow) of Westmount, Que. They finished in 6:51, missing second-place by a fraction but edging out fourth-place Brock by three seconds.
 
The varsity eight finished in 6:26, seven seconds ahead of fourth-place Western. The McGill boat consisted of Georg Gaidoschik (coxie), Victor Rolland (stroke), Markus Maile, Wyatt Gilbert, Craig McCullogh, Patrice Legare, Trevor Probst, Edison Luke, and Jacob Lofaro (bow).
 
Coincidentally, McCullogh was also in the bronze medal-winning boat in 2016, during his undergrad years. He earned a science degree in 2019 and is now in medical school.

Gilbert, who is completing a certificate in accounting, and Gaidoschik, a history major, both started as novices together in 2018 and have now finished their senior year at McGill with an OUA podium together.

The eight featured an incredible final sprint where McGill dramatically pulled away to upset Western, after trailing at the halfway point. Western entered the regatta as one of the favorites for the podium, along with Queen's and Brock. It was the first time since 2016 that the McGill men's eight has reached the podium at the OUAs.
 
Due to heavy fog in the morning, the finals were canceled and the best times from the heats were used as final results. All McGill races were decided by time trial, apart from the heavy pair and the eight, which featured a single-race final with all boats lined up for the dramatic race.
 
The Brock Badgers collected 488 points to successfully repeat as OUA men's champions, their 13th title in program history. The top five teams included second-place Western (402), followed by Queen's (266), McGill (151) and Carleton (98).
 
On the women's side, McGill placed 10th. The Western women collected 486 points to repeat as OUA champs for a ninth consecutive season and the 30th banner overall. Queen's was the next closest school at 258 points, while McGill ended up with 28 points.
 
The OUA rower of the year awards went to Brock's Stephen Harris (two golds) and Trent's Grace Vandenbroek (gold and silver).
 
In the OUA developmental regatta on Friday, which is associated but not considered part of the official OUA championship, McGill's novice boats also produced a few impressive performances.
 
The women's novice eight finished first to complete an undefeated season. The boat featured Varya Kataria (coxie), Abigail Powell (stroke), Leslie Herpe, Astrid Scarth-Lella, Sophie Waller, Anae Werner, Emilie Reid, Caroline Zimmer and Jemma Pooley (bow).
 
The men's junior varsity four was first in a boat composed of Paige McCallum (coxie), Paul Speciel (stroke), Evan Henderson, Patrick Colbert-Muetterties and Amadeo Boza (bow).
 
And finally, the men's novice eight placed second. That group included Win Felgenhauer (coxie), Michael Tonner (stroke), Brennan King, Harrison Roy, Ayoub Sabri, Lucas Patterson, Nikhil Satchu, Adam Prus-Czarnecki and Avery Seeley (bow).
 
McGill returns to the Royal Henley course next weekend for the Canadian University Rowing Association championships

2022 OUA Rowing Award Winners

Rower of the Year (W) - Grace Vandenbroek, Trent
Rower of the Year (M) - Stephen Harris, Brock
Coach of the Year (W) - Mary Rao, Brock
Coach of the Year (M) - Tom Kent, Brock

Men's Final Standings
1. Brock – 488
2. Western – 402
3. Queen's – 266
4. McGill – 151
5. Carleton – 98
6. Trent – 80
7. Guelph – 79
8. Toronto – 66
9. McMaster – 61
10. Ottawa – 55
11. Waterloo – 47
12. Ontario Tech – 14
13. Nipissing – 8
14. Laurentian – 0

Women's Final Standings
1. Western – 486
2. Queen's – 258­­
3. Brock – 254
4. Toronto – 180
5. Trent – 151
6. Ottawa – 146
7. Guelph – 137
8. McMaster – 132
9. Carleton – 62
10. McGill – 28
11. Waterloo – 17
12. Ontario Tech – 9
13. Nipissing – 0
13. Laurentian – 0
 

SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca