The Space Coast Crew men’s team performed well at the annual Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, Tenn., last weekend. Being that this is a national event, the team is satisfied with its standings.

“Overall we came in around the middle of the pack,” said Chloe Sink, varsity men’s coxswain. “My three boats came in at 52nd, 20th, and 53rd place in their events, which is good considering there were 80 boats in some races.”

The race course itself is 5,000 meters long which is about 3.1 miles of the Tennessee River. The race is classified as a head race which is when all boats in each event start sequentially and race against the clock rather than each other.

“Some races were better than others but that was expected,” Sink said. “For the most part, the men are satisfied with how the races turned out and if they’re not, then they’ve accepted it and are working on improving.”

The best finish time coming from the men’s team was 16 minutes and seven seconds which was from the men’s lightweight 8 which came in 20th out of 36. However, the men’s novice four did the best as far as team standings go, receiving 16th place out of 45.

The  regatta also brought optimism for the women’s team as it prepares for the upcoming spring sprint season.

“I think that with the videos (from the regatta) and coaching, we’ll be rowing better technically,” women’s captain Katie Cronk said. “The weight and land workouts will improve our times come sprints. Together these things will allow us to be successful.”

Sophomore Alannah Stewart reflected on the event.

“It brings back a lot of nostalgic memories of my novice year on crew and being there last year,” she said. “It’s also fun to celebrate with the novices about them crossing from novice to varsity.”

By Loryn Schopke and Natalie Brown