Florida Tech Panthers Close Out Season With 16th Place At IRA National Championship
By Mitch Praxl, Florida Tech Sports // June 6, 2016
memorable season includes a championship at SIRA
WEST WINDSOR, NEW JERSEY – Florida Tech was clipped at the finish line by No. 12 Syracuse Sunday morning, settling for fourth in the third level final at the IRA National Championship.
The FIT boat, manned by Aaron Evans, Josip Bobinac, Kevin Coyle, Ljubo Gavric, Matas Lukosevicius, Phillip Machen,Kristjan Markovc, Woody Sandhu, and Nikola Selakovic, close out the season with a 16th place finish with the result, completing the course in 5:59.330.
“We had a great year,” said head coach Jim Granger. “We would have liked to finish better at the IRA, but I think the crew competed better each day of the regatta. The final two races were the best of the week and the guys showed a lot of poise rowing through other crews in the middle of the pieces. Every man comes back, so we are looking forward to bettering our results next year.”
Sixth ranked Cornell jumped out to a commanding lead early in the race, with No. 13 Dartmouth solidifying second position. At the 1,000 meter mark FIT began to open a small lead over the Orange as well as No. 20 Oregon State and No. 18 George Washington.
Unfortunately, the Crimson and Gray were unable to hold off a late charge by Syracuse, who outpaced FIT by less than two tenths of a second.
The result ends a memorable season for the Panthers, which includes a championship at the SIRA Championship and a second-consecutive Dad Vail Regatta title.
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