By Matthew Stanmyre
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, May 20, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, May 19 -- Ty Otto felt the shell zoom from the starting dock and knew instantly nobody was going to catch his team.

Despite the uncertainly Jefferson carried into the most important weekend of the rowing season to date, for one special race everything came together for the Colonials, and it all began with a dominating start.

"There was just tons of adrenaline going," Otto said.

Buoyed by its powerful beginning, Jefferson's varsity boys' eight raced to its second straight title at the 81st Stotesbury Cup Regatta on the Schuylkill River on Saturday.

The Colonials won their third title in four years in 4 minutes 18.86 seconds, well in front of second-place Winter Park (Fla.), which finished in 4:21.16.

"We just took off," Jefferson oarsman Marcos Carzolio said. "We just rowed our race from there."

The Colonials dominated the event despite entering the weekend without its top nine athletes in place. On Thursday -- Jefferson's first day in Philadelphia -- Coach Jim Granger had his team race for seats as he tried to discover the best combination.

"That's pretty darn unusual," Jefferson oarsman Lee Rumpf said.

The Colonials have used several combinations in their top boat this season, with Granger considering 11 oarsmen.

Jefferson also has used two coxswain -- Raja Goel got the nod Saturday even though Graham Ziemba coxed last week when the Colonials won their ninth straight Virginia championship.

"We just want the best lineup we can get," Carzolio said.

Jefferson found it Saturday with a lineup of Ben Ranard, Dan Muir, Tom Della Fera, Rumpf, Otto, Carzolio, Christian Klein, Will Zeng and Goel. The victory kept Jefferson unbeaten this season. The Colonials also won the time trials Friday at Stotesbury for the first time.

"This was a good way for us to begin to close out the season," Granger said.

The Colonials encountered a potentially crippling stroke of bad luck when Ranard accidentally struck a goose with his blade about 700 meters into the race.

"I thought we were done," Carzolio said.

But Jefferson's experience prevailed -- all eight oarsmen Saturday were seniors -- and the group kept its composure. Winter Park made a push after the mishap, but the Colonials kept their lead and extended it during the final 500 meters.

After Jefferson crossed the finish line, Goel splashed water in the air, and the rest of the team slapped hands, some falling back in their seats in exhaustion.

Once the team hoisted the Stotesbury Cup, its members launched Goel into the Schuylkill River while a throng of Jefferson fans chanted, "T.J., T.J.!"

"This is the culmination of everything we've worked for," Goel said.

Stotesbury Cup Regatta Deep Eights: Jefferson's boys' second eight took the silver medal in 4:24.32. Winter Park (4:20.47) was first. Gray Day: Despite a forecast for rain, the precipitation held off for most of the day, except for a few sprinkles in the early afternoon.