University of Virginia Library

Warmup For Dad Vail

Crew Team Favored In Regatta On Potomac

By STEVE GASKE

Coming off a fine showing
in the Mid-America Regatta at
Marietta, Ohio last weekend,
the University crew team is the
favorite in this weekend's
District of Columbia Regatta.

The District of Columbia
Regatta, held on the Potomac,
is sponsored by Georgetown
University and will feature at
least two other teams besides
Georgetown and Virginia;
Howard and George
Washington Universities and
possibly one other team.

In last weekend's race on
the Ohio River, the Cavalier
varsity boat came within six
inches of defending its title
from last year. Last year the
Cavaliers became the first team
in the seven-year history of the
Mid-America Regatta to beat
the Marietta varsity.

Run on an extremely fast
course, this race was a
heart breaker for the varsity as
Marietta overtook the Cavs in
the last few yards to set a
course record of 4:51.2.
Virginia finished a tenth of a
second back at 4:51.3.

When compared with the
Cavaliers' winning time of
6:29.9 in last year's race on the
same course, these sub-five
minute times can partially be
attributed to the extremely
fast conditions on the Ohio.

A second place finish by
the JV was the best showing of
Virginia's other three boats.
The lightweights finished third
and the first-year men fourth.

In the Southern
Championships two weeks ago,
the varsity and JV took first
places while the first-year men
and lightweights placed second
and third respectively.

Team captain Jack Plackter
says that, if he can recover
from the broken ribs he's been
rowing with for the last few
weeks, the varsity should be
favored to win the Dad Vail
Regatta in Philadelphia on May
13.

Other teams in this event,
which is like a national
championship of small college
crew teams, are Marietta, St.
Joseph's and the Coast Guard
Academy, but the
improvement in the varsity
that should result from
Plackter's recovery should be
enough to make the Cavaliers
definite favorites for first
place.

The winner of the Dad Vail
Regatta goes on to compete in
the Intercollegiate Rowing
Association Championships
against the big crew teams like
Harvard and Yale.

Norton Schlachter, the
number seven position on the
varsity boat, will be competing
after the season ends for the
rest of the team. Schlachter
was picked as one of 35
finalists out of 300 to qualify
for the eastern finals of the
Olympic Trials.

He will go to New Haven,
Conn. in three weeks as the
next step in his Olympic bid.