Texas A&M Crew is preparing for the Pumpkinhead Regatta, the third regatta of the fall season, scheduled for Saturday at Lady Bird Lake in Austin. The Aggies brought home two novice medals from the 2023 event.
“I’m super excited for this year’s Pumpkinhead,” coach Paul Bagley said. “Our new novices look really strong. The ladies have also been putting in the work, and the 4+ is looking sharp.”
Electrical engineering senior Garvit Dhingra, aerospace engineering junior Ben Fox, telecommunication media studies sophomore Connor McCormick and mechanical engineering senior and team vice president Jonas Pearson are the current members responsible for the 2023 medals.
Now varsity members, with Dhingra and Pearson on Varsity 1 and Fox and McCormick on Varsity 2, all four will be competing in the Men’s Collegiate 8+ event at the Pumpkinhead Regatta.
The crew team competed in the OKC Regatta on Oct. 5-6, where the Varsity Men’s 1V8+ came in third place, automatically advancing to a 500-meter sprint final, where they also placed in third.
“This is the first time Texas A&M has medalled at Head of Oklahoma since 2019 and the first time in the Men’s Collegiate 8+ event since 2018,” assistant coach Sarah McQuaid said.
Other results included the Varsity Men’s 2V8+, who came in sixth place, beating all the other B boats and one A boat in the category. The Novice Men’s 4+ boat came in fourth, missing the podium by only six seconds. The Varsity Women’s 4+ competed in the largest category with 30 entries. Although it did not medal, it was able to place higher than three out of the four other Texas teams in the category, McQuaid said.
“Compared to other Texas schools, our Open Men’s 1V, Novice Men’s 4 and Open Women’s 4 have beaten both TCU and Baylor at the regattas,” Garvit Dhingra said. “The only Texas school we lose to is t.u., but not for long.”
McQuaid said she hopes to put four to five boats on the podium at the regatta this year, taking nine boats total, while Bagley said he expects the varsity men to place each of the three boats.
“In past years, we’ve had a tendency to focus too much on new rowers and let our varsity athletes self-regulate,” Bagley said.
A new hands-on training technique has been introduced in the hopes that pushing off one another will create a greater standard to abide by, Bagley said.
“At this regatta and throughout this season, I want our team to reflect on their progress from regatta to regatta,” McQuaid said. “This isn’t just about the place they are awarded, but also how their row felt.”
McQuaid said she aims to focus less on the end placement and more on the strong starts, consistent rowing and aggressive pace that will get them there.
McQuaid said her 2024 costume is inspired by a quote the team coined for her: “The devil works hard, but Sarah McQuaid works harder.” She’ll be wearing devil horns while Bagley dons an angel halo. As for the team, it is waiting to reveal its costumes on the day of the Pumpkinhead Regatta, philosophy senior Hope Klingenstein said.
“Most boats haven’t finalized their costumes yet,” Dhingra said. “But some of our ideas include the Minions, Oompa Loompas and Disney princesses.”
Kennedy Long is a journalism sophomore and contributed this article from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion
