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Men's Rowing

Men's Rowing Notches Historic Finish at Head of The Charles

Torero Collegiate Four finishes 3rd of 39 in Boston, equaling highest finish in program history

BOSTON — San Diego men's rowing opened its 2022-2023 campaign with a bang this past Sunday at the Head of the Charles Regatta, with its crew medaling in the Men's Collegiate Four event.

The crew of Kaleb Griffin, Derek Hissong, Jacob Zelenko, Jack Giebler, and Gavin McLaren came through the line in bronze medal position, finishing 3rd of the 39 entries in the event.

"We are elated for the guys--they have worked hard to achieve this moment," said head coach Bart Thompson. "We talk about being a process-driven team, and they have done a great job with striving to do the right thing every session of every week."

Held in Boston every October, HOCR is the world's largest regatta, with upwards of 12,000 athletes competing annually. 

The crew gained speed throughout the 4702-meter (2.92 mile) course, ranking progressively better at each checkpoint along the course: 7th at Riverside Boathouse, 6th at Weld Boathouse, and finally 4th at Cambridge Boat Club, before finishing in the medals. 

"This group has tended to build speed throughout our workouts this fall, so we talked about coming out strong enough in the first half to maintain contact with the other top crews before our strong finish and the guys did that very well," said Thompson

This was the team's first trip to the event since 2017, and its 3rd-place finish equaled the best in the program's history.

While only one crew from the team traveled to the event, Thompson felt that the result was a testament to the whole squad. "Plenty of guys who weren't in that boat have been setting the tone this fall in the weightroom, on the erg, and in the classroom this fall. We don't achieve this result without each of them. That extends to our support staff as well. Coach Hinkle has been doing an excellent job with this group, and JoAnn Vallese--our Counselor for Scholar-Athlete Development & Support as well as a program alum--walked Kaleb through the course beforehand to make sure he would crush the turns."

The team now turns its focus to the Head of the American, held this coming Saturday, October 29th on Lake Natoma in Sacramento, California.

Crew Lineup for Head of the Charles
Men's Collegiate Four: Kaleb Griffin (coxswain), Derek Hissong, Jacob Zelenko, Jack Giebler, Gavin McLaren
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Players Mentioned

Jack Giebler

Jack Giebler

6' 1"
Junior
Derek Hissong

Derek Hissong

6' 1"
Sophomore
Gavin McLaren

Gavin McLaren

5' 11"
Junior
Kaleb Griffin

Kaleb Griffin

COX
5' 10"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jack Giebler

Jack Giebler

6' 1"
Junior
Derek Hissong

Derek Hissong

6' 1"
Sophomore
Gavin McLaren

Gavin McLaren

5' 11"
Junior
Kaleb Griffin

Kaleb Griffin

5' 10"
Freshman
COX