Florida Tech Men’s Rowing Finishes Season After Placing 5th In the Final 3 Race

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – Florida Tech completes the weekend on Lake Natoma after placing fifth in the Final 3 race during Sunday mornings regatta.

Heading in the third consecutive day of rowing, FIT exemplified another clean start off the line as they battled to take first place before the 250-meter mark, but a fighting Stanford surged ahead to first followed by Columbia in second.

Locking into their base cadence, the Panthers showed exceptional blade work, taking the lead over Stanford headed into the 500-meter mark. However, Navy took the lead over Florida Tech, putting the Panthers in second before Stanford and George Washington made their moves to pass both crews for the leading spots.

Resting half a length back from the leader, the Panthers battled for the third place position, staying level with Navy crossing the 1000.

With all crews over lapping, the Panthers tried to keep pace with Stanford at 38 stokes per minute, but the Cardinal maintained half a length lead over Florida Tech and a quarter-length lead over George Washington.

Heading in to the final meters of the race, the crews switched positions as they approached the 500-meter marker. With the first and second place spots unchanged, the Panthers held relentless as they battle for third against the surging Columbia and Navy crews.

With each crew making their move during the final sprint, Florida tech attempted to keep pace, but the Melbourne-based crew dropped to fifth as they crossed the finish line.

FIT finished the course in 5:46.82, just 80 milliseconds behind Navy for the third place spot.

With the finish, the Panthers complete their 2017 season and look forward to next year’s season on the water.

Similar Stories