Florida Tech Rowing Finishes Ninth in Championship

By  //  October 22, 2013

Alumni Race SET as part of Homecoming Weekend

ABOVE VIDEO: Florida Tech Panther men’s rowing is training diligently to affirm their place among the best.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Florida Tech’s men’s varsity four opened the fall rowing season with a ninth-place finish in the championship fours at the Head of the Charles on Sunday.

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Jessica Mellinger (far left) and the rest of the men’s varsity four put in a good showing at the Head of the Charles on Sunday. (Amanda Stratford Photography image)

The Panthers finished the three-mile course at 17:03.346. Their time in the head race was faster than 11 other crews, including Wisconsin, Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, San Diego, Penn and George Washington. Of those schools, Wisconsin’s time was the closest to the Panthers at 17:04.082.

Competing for FIT was coxswain Jessica Mellinger, stroke Ernestas Zarskis, Jose Gomez-Feria, Joe Horn and bow Kevin Coyle.

“We had a strong race considering the quick turnaround from last weekend did not allow us to row this particular boat quite as much as we may normally before a race,” assistant coach Casey Dalal said.

“The wind conditions were challenging, but after a strong first half of the race, our student-athletes put themselves in a great position to upset a lot of other fast crews by the finish. Our coxswain, Jessica, steered one of the most aggressive courses I witnessed throughout the afternoon coming into the final major turn of the race before the Eliot Bridge.”

CAMP RANDALL ROWING CLUB

Camp Randall Rowing Club won the race at 16:35.505. USRowing came in second at 16:56.685. Stanford was third at 16:45.385 followed by Washington at 16:49.371 and Sydney Rowing Club from Australia at 16:50.919.

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“The wind conditions were challenging, but after a strong first half of the race, our student-athletes put themselves in a great position to upset a lot of other fast crews by the finish. ” Coach Casey Dalal said.

FIT will host its Alumni Race as part of Homecoming Weekend this Saturday morning at the FIT Boathouse.

It will then race at the Head of the Hooche next Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 2-3, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

“We are pleased with the performance of all our student-athletes this weekend and look forward to gaining more speed in the next two weeks as we prepare for the Head of the Chattahoochee,” Dalal said.

To view the results visit FloridaTechSports.com
To view the 2013 Schedule visit FloridaTechSports.com