Vincent Barletta, Class of 1993, has been elected to the Northeastern University Hall of Fame for his excellence in the sport of rowing and for his continued support of the Huskies crew program.
Barletta rowed the 4 seat in the 1991 crew that won the IRA Regatta and was one of the greatest eights in Northeastern history. It was no accident that Barletta found his way to the newly-opened Henderson Boathouse in 1989. First, his grandfather Fred Barletta was the sponsor of Northeastern's Barletta Natatorium and his father Vincent Barletta was also a University trustee. Second, he rowed for four years at the Belmont Hill School and was in its eight, which won the Princess Elizabeth Cup at the famed Henley Royal Regatta. He captained the crew as a senior.
He made an immediate impact on the freshman crew. Rowing in the 5 seat, his frosh shell finished with a 3-4 record, and he was voted the Outstanding Freshman Oarsman. He spent the following season rowing the 4 seat in the varsity eight. The crew had a winning 4-3 regular regatta season but did not make the finals of the Eastern Sprints or the IRA.
The 1991 season started with Barletta at the 4 seat and with a disappointing shocker. The Huskies lost the BU race for only the sixth time in 32 rowings. Even though the margin was a mere 0.2 seconds, it was a bad beginning. Next was the Potomac Regatta, and NU took an unimpressive third to Harvard and Brown while besting Princeton. Then, the Huskies started to fly. They beat Brown in a dual race, and beat Yale and Rutgers easily. That was followed by a stunning half-length win over Harvard. At the halfway mark of the season, it was clear that Northeastern and Pennsylvania were the nation's preeminent crews. For the Eastern Sprints, Penn was seeded one with the Huskies two, and they finished in that order with the Quakers 1.8 seconds ahead. The next week was a dual race with Penn, and NU prevailed by 2.5 seconds. Several weeks later, all crews headed for the IRA Regatta or the national championship. Once again, Northeastern triumphed over Penn, this time by 1.9 seconds. The final match would come at the Cincinnati Regatta, an open invitational. Penn would win by a bow ball, or 0.27 seconds.
The leadership that Bartletta demonstrated in the remarkable season of 1991 earned him the captaincy of the 1992 crew. That boat finished with a 3-3 record. Barletta finished his career with the honor of being selected the team's Outstanding Varsity Oarsman.
Last year, he was the recipient of the Charlie Smith Award for his many years of dedication to Northeastern Crew.
