Sports > November 15, 2007

By Ryan Durham | Sports editor

The men’s and women’s club crew teams finished their fall season strong with appearances at two regattas, the Head of the Hooch and the Head of the South, which took place Nov. 3 and Nov. 10, respectively.

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The women’s varsity 4A boat finished the fall season strong with a win at the Head of the South regatta Nov. 10 and a fifth place finish at the Head of the Hooch regatta Nov. 3. (Photo courtesy of the club crew team)

At both races, Deacon boats placed in the top 10 in their respective races.

At the Head of the Hooch, Wake Forest entered five boats into the 1,250 boat regatta.

Of the five boats, the Deacons fielded three, which finished in the top 10 for their race. The top Deacon finisher was the men’s novice 4 boat made up of freshmen Wright Clarke, Dominique Bouillet, Daniel Pittman, Robert May and their coxswain, fellow freshman Dan Kiley, who finished with a time of 19:28.8. Their finish was only the second time a Wake Forest boat finished in first place in the history of the crew team.

“I was very surprised as the Head of the Hooch is one of the biggest regattas in the US with good teams from throughout the Southeast,” Bouillet said. “It was unexpected for all of us, but it also made us hopeful for the race in Augusta.”

Two other Wake teams finished in the top 10 of their respective races. The Women Varsity 4A boat beat out 26 other boats to finish in fifth place with a time of 20:34.9, and the men varsity lightweight 4 boat finished sixth in its race with a time of 18:52.9.

The other two boats that the Deacs fielded at the Head of Hooch were the women’s varsity B and the women’s novice 4 boats.

The varsity boat finished 29th in its race, and the novice boat finished with a time of 25:41.7, good enough for 20th in their race.

The men’s and women’s crew team’s next made the trip to Augusta, Ga., for the Head of the South regatta, where Bouillet and the team’s hopes came to fruition.

At Head of the South, both the Men’s Novice 4 boat and Women’s Varsity 4 A boat placed first in their respective races.

The women’s varsity A boat defeated its closest opponent by over 20 seconds.

“We rowed a strong race at Head of the Hooch, but it was more brute power than technique,” senior Lindsay Williamson said. “We worked on this during the week of practice before Head of the South, and really came together as a boat.

Also placing well at the regatta was the men’s varsity lightweight boat, which finished with a time of 17:45.5, good enough for second place.

The team’s appearances at the regattas mark the end of the fall season.