HANOVER, N.H. -- The Bates men's rowing team competed in their final regatta of the fall on Saturday, taking on the Dartmouth and Columbia Lightweights in some exciting 5,000-meter races on the Connecticut River.

"We are grateful to the Dartmouth Lightweights for hosting us for our final race of the season," head coach Peter Steenstra said. "The racing was good and the team had a good performance overall. It was fun for the guys to see how they stack up against some high quality Ivy League teams." 

Led by junior coxswain Darien Chiang (Quincy, Mass.) and sophomore stroke seat Samuel Perozek (Boston), the first varsity four raced to the finish in 18:00.18, good for second place in the six-boat race. The Bobcats out-raced the Columbia varsity four and the Dartmouth second varsity four.

In a rarity, the Bobcats entered a rower in a singles race and also entered two boats in the pairs race. First-year Logan Schlichter (Sandy, Utah) took fourth place out of six singles boats, crossing the finish line in 21:28.42, just 0.2 seconds behind the third-place boat. He out-raced two singles boats from Dartmouth. Meanwhile, first-year Bryce Ahn (Bedford, N.H.) and senior captain Luke Desmaison (New York City) finished in fourth place out of six pairs, racing across the line in 20:07.12 and placing ahead of a pair from Columbia. 

"Without really having practiced these lineups, the boats did well navigating a challenging course and racing hard," Steenstra said. "Chiang's crew had the best performance of the day, Logan Schlichter also did a great job holding his own in the single against some world class competition. It's worth noting he might be the first single to ever race for Bates."

In the afternoon, the eights took to the water and the men's first varsity eight placed third out of eight boats with a time of 16:16.35. 

"All four boats raced well," Steenstra said. "Being that this was a stake race, which features a 180-degree turn, it should be noted that second varsity eight coxswain and senior captain Micah Shimizu (Batavia, Ill.) executed the best stake turn of the day, as recognized by the Dartmouth coaches. Dartmouth and Columbia bested us in each of the eights races, and the team is hungry to return to campus and get to work this winter."

Bates MV4 lineup:  Bow: Brendan Kelly; 2: Roy Bellows; 3: Lando Putnam-Bagley; 4: Samuel Perozek; c: Darien Chiang

Bates M2V4 lineup: Bow: Kelly McKaige; 2: Nicholas Hoerle; 3: Benji Richards; 4: Peter Gratwick; c: Micah Shimizu

Bates M3V4 lineup: Bow: Thomas Pacinda; 2: Will Mitchell; 3: George Udris; 4: John Cleary; c: Benji Cao

Bates MV2 lineup: Bow: Bryce Ahn; 2: Luke Desmaison

Bates M2V2 lineup: Bow: Finian Guinney; 2: Wiley Anderson

Bates Single: Logan Schlichter

Bates MV8 lineup: Bow: Brendan Kelly; 2: Samuel Perozek; 3: Thomas Pacinda; 4: Roy Bellows; 5: Lando Putnam-Bagley; 6: John Cleary; 7: Bryce Ahn; Stroke: Luke Desmaison; c: Darien Chiang

Bates M2V8 lineup: Bow: Logan Schlichter; 2: Finian Guinney; 3: Kelly McKaige; 4: Nicholas Hoerle; 5: George Udris; 6: Will Mitchell; 7: Benji Richards; Stroke: Peter Gratwick; c: Micah Shimizu

Bates M3V8 lineup: Bow: Randy Li; 2: Louis Consigli; 3: Nate Oh; 4: EJ Herrmann; 5: Oscar Green; 6: Charlie Bockmann; 7: Wiley Anderson; Stroke: Diego Davalos; c: Sara Maquera

Bates M4V8 lineup: Bow: Mason Choiniere Barr; 2: Aarav Worah; 3: Ben Parker; 4: Aidan O'Brien; 5: Patrick Cohen; 6: Solomon Kayobotsi; 7: Xavier Drouin; Stroke: Sam Williams; c: Hannah Daher