The Hobart rowing team's varsity eight debuted at No. 21 in the IRCA/IRA varsity eight poll that was announced earlier this morning. The Statesmen's top boat was receiving votes in the preseason poll.
 
Hobart's varsity eight, which is powered by Sam Hyman, Owen O'Connor, Charles Watroba, Colin Mester, Kiré Richardson, Chase Sneddon, James Feeley IV, Carlo Capitanucci and Tibor Teleki opened the spring season with a pair strong races. On Saturday, April 4, they took on then 18th-ranked Georgetown and fourth-ranked Dartmouth on Carnegie Lake in Princeton, New Jersey. The Statesmen traversed the 2,000-meter course with a time of 5:55.7, beating the Hoyas by four seconds. The Big Green won the race by nine seconds.
 
In their first race of the season at the Cayuga Duals, Hyman, O'Connor, Watroba, Mester, Richardson, Sneddon, Feeley, Capitanucci and Teleki, notched wins over Ithaca and Hamilton. Hobart beat the Bombers by 18 seconds to retain the Statesmen Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the 1V race between Hobart and Ithaca. They followed that up with a 20-second win over the Continentals.  
 
The Statesmen will be back in action on Sunday, April 12, when it competes in the Occoquan Invitational.