June 22, 2006

Brockville, Ontario - A pair of brothers on the Mercyhurst College men's rowing team have been selected to the Canadian National team after attending the team trials in Victoria, British Columbia. Brandon Boyd and Kurtis Boyd were both already members of the Canadian Under-23 Team.

Both brothers will row in several international competitions. Kurtis will row in the Under-23 World Championships held in Hazelwinkel, Belgium from July 20-23 as part of the lightweight four. Brandon will be a member of the Canadian team that will row at the Commonwealth rowing Championships in Strathclyde, Scotland from August 4-6 and will also row in the World University Game in Trakaia, Lithuania, August 11-13. He will compete in both the lightweight four and lightweight pair.

It is not the first taste of international competition for Kurtis. He rowed in the World Junior Championships in Banyoles, Spain in 2004, where he placed fifth in the pair.

Both Brandon and Kurtis Boyd row out of the Brockville Rowing Club.

This spring, the Boyds helped the Mercyhurst men's varsity four to the school's first gold at the National Invitational Championships. Along with Ronald Dorchak, Bob Patterson and coxswain Michele Handzel, the varsity four set a course and championship record with a time of 6:37.509, shattering the previous mark of 6:39.83.