Marist’s Men’s Rowing Team set to go Against the Best in the Nation
June 1, 2022 – After a very busy month of May, Marist has been largely quiet this week. There are, however, a small number of students making their way around campus, though you may have to wake up early in the morning to see them. Members of Marist’s Men’s Rowing team will be competing on a national level, having qualified for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association’s (IRA) National Championship Regatta.
The 2022 IRA Championships will be held at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey this weekend from Friday through Sunday and the Red Foxes will compete alongside some of the best rowers from national powers around the country. Marist received one of eight “at-large” bids following a strong regular season.
Competition includes the top twenty-four programs in the country, which features the likes of Ivy League powers such as Brown, Penn, Harvard and Yale and traditional powers like Wisconsin and Washington. You can see a full crew program list here: http://irarowing.com/2022-championship-crews-selected/.
The Marist team, which typically trains early in the morning and late in the afternoon on the Hudson, leaves for New Jersey on Thursday. The three crews representing Marist in the regatta are: the “Varsity Eight,” the “Second Varsity Eight,” and the “Varsity Four.”
Below are some of the student athletes who are competing this weekend in New Jersey.
Jordan Irving ‘22
Jordan Irving
Jordan is from Suffern, New York, and just graduated from Marist in May as a cybersecurity major. He is a team captain and sits in a stroke seat in the Varsity 8 boat. Next steps for Jordan include attending Oxford Brookes University in England for his master’s. Last year, he sat in the stroke seat for the Varsity 8 crew that finished 22nd in the nation at the IRA.
Alex Missert ‘22
Alex Missert
Alex is from Atlanta, Georgia and just graduated from Marist as a business administration major with a concentration in finance. He sits in five seat of the Varsity 8 boat, loves being a role model for the underclassmen and can’t wait to compete in the IRA. Last year, he was fifth seat in the Second Varsity 8 crew that finished 20th in the nation at the IRA. His father Bob is a 1979 Marist alum and was also a member of the rowing team.
Allie Bohenko ‘23
Allie Bohenko
Allie is from Westford, Massachusetts and is majoring in Psychology and Special Education at Marist. She is the coxswain for the Varsity 8 boat and is a rising senior. Allie is one of two women competing as coxswains for the men’s team. Last year, she was the coxswain of the Varsity 8 crew that finished 22nd in the nation at the IRA.
Kyle Depace ‘23
Kyle Depace
Kyle is a rising senior from Chatham, New Jersey and a computer science major at Marist. He sits in five seat in the Second Varsity 8 boat. Kyle had no previous rowing experience before coming to Marist, though he walked on to the team and learned quickly. Three years later, he’s a key member on a boat that has qualified for the IRA.
Cooper Hite ‘25
Cooper Hite
Cooper is from Ann Arbor, Michigan and is a business administration major at Marist. He is a rising sophomore. Cooper sits in the stroke seat of the Second Varsity 8 boat and is very much looking forward to his first experience in the IRA.
Men’s Rowing Head Coach Campbell Woods says the team is well-deserving of their at-large bid and looking forward to competing this weekend. “These athletes have worked so hard to get to this point and deserve this chance to compete against some of the best rowers in the nation,” said Coach Woods. “We are very proud of what this group has been able to accomplish during this tremendous season,” he said.
Though most of the rowers are recruited, it is the only varsity sport at Marist that does not require previous experience to join. This makes the Men’s and Women’s Rowing teams unique at Marist, as there are a significant number of walk-ons. Coaches teach walk-ons to row on machines, called “ergs,” then transition to the water for eventual low and high intensity workouts as they progress. They also supplement water and erg workouts with other land training. Training is year-round.
Deep Regatta History
The IRA National Championships have been held since 1895. Poughkeepsie on the Hudson River hosted the race from its beginning through 1949, a time where Poughkeepsie was known as the “Rowing Capital of the World” right at what would become Marist College’s doorstep.
Poughkeepsie, the Hudson River and the IRA were the backdrop of the true story that inspired the best-selling book The Boys in the Boat, which is now being made into a feature film to be directed and produced by George Clooney. The Boys in the Boat is the story of the incredible University of Washington Rowing team that won an Olympic gold medal in 1936 in Berlin after winning in Poughkeepsie.
The Marist College Archives are home to the unique “Poughkeepsie Regatta Collection,” consisting of documents, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and programs relating to the Poughkeepsie Regatta.