The Brock Badgers men’s rowing team solidified their legacy this weekend with their fifth consecutive Ontario University Athletics (OUA) title.<\/p>\n
The historic achievement took place at Henley Island in Port\u00a0Dalhousie on Friday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 25 during the championships hosted by the Carleton Ravens.<\/p>\n
Combining for a total\u00a0of\u00a0511\u00a0points, the Badgers captured first, with the Western Mustangs second\u00a0at\u00a0419 and the Queen’s Gaels third with 395.<\/p>\n
“There’s no question winning five banners in a row is a challenge,”\u00a0said lead open\u00a0head coach Scott Anderson.\u00a0“We\u00a0didn’t\u00a0know that would be possible.\u00a0This team creates a great atmosphere to be a part of, and to have some of these athletes have their names on all of five of these banners is\u00a0really cool.”<\/p>\n
The men’s team appeared on the podium an impressive nine times\u00a0out of 10\u00a0over the regatta, leaving with\u00a0five gold medals, two silvers\u00a0and two\u00a0bronze.<\/p>\n
“A fifth consecutive banner is beyond exceptional,” said Melissa Krist, <\/em>Executive Director, Brock Sports and Recreation. “Winning is hard, but our rowing program continues to perform at the highest level. We are so proud of our Badgers.”<\/p>\n Riley Watson won Male Athlete of the Year at the regatta. He collected his first gold medal with a time of six minutes, 54 seconds and 503 milliseconds with partner Jonas Masys in the men’s lightweight double. Watson’s hardware haul didn’t stop there as he won gold with the men’s lightweight eight crew (6:04.149).<\/p>\n Also reaching the podium was\u00a0Charles-Etienne Tabet,\u00a0who earned gold medals in the men’s single in 7:13.316 and the men’s double with\u00a0Stephen Harris\u00a0in 6:34.507.<\/p>\n Harris\u2019s first year in 2019 saw the team fall short of a championship win, but left them determined to change their fate for the following year.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery year,\u00a0it’s\u00a0been an incredible experience with this team,\u201d he said. \u201cThis championship feels as good as or better than the first one.\u00a0It’s\u00a0been an amazing run.”<\/p>\n Coxswain\u00a0Daniel Phillips\u00a0and\u00a0crew\u00a0members\u00a0Sawyer Dalton,\u00a0Connor Dodds,\u00a0Ethan Mason\u00a0and\u00a0Griffin Wick\u00a0also earned two gold medals on the day\u00a0as they finished first in both the men’s lightweight eight (6:04.149) and men’s lightweight coxed four events (6:51.955).<\/p>\n Anderson and Tom Kent won OUA Men’s Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons.<\/p>\n This marks the first time a men’s rowing team has captured five consecutive OUA titles since the Western Mustangs achieved the feat from 1993 to 1997.<\/p>\n