Day One of Dad Vail Regatta gets Three Tech Boats Advancing Past First Heats
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The first day of the 69th running of the Dad Vail Regatta showed signs of promise as three Florida Tech boats advanced past their
first heats. The men’s varsity pair will compete in the semi’s starting at 8:42 in the morning while the men’s varsity heavyweight 8 will compete in the
semi’s starting at 10:50 am. The men’s novice lightweight 8 will compete for the ‘Brendan Lynch Cup’ starting 1:20 in the afternoon. The WV8+ will jump
straight to the finals that will start at 4 pm after a second place finish in their heat in the morning.
In the first heat for Florida Tech, the men’s varsity heavyweight four placed fifth as they failed to qualify for the semi’s. The MV4+ finished with a time
of 7:11.32 as they competed in the third event during the first heats of the Dad Vail Regatta. Tech’s boat was coxed by Rachel Hillyer (Melbourne, Fla.),
stroked by Justin Eickmeir (Pickering, Ontario), third seat by Steve Lindstrom (Blackstone, Mass.), second seat by Ryan Krajcik (Orange, Conn.), and in the
bow seat Wes Dunne (Pompton Lakes, NJ). The other teams that competed in the heat with Tech were Northwestern who finished first with a time of 7:00.54
with Lafayette in second, American University in third, and John Carroll placing fourth.
The men’s varsity pair of Matt Lipka (Nashua, NH) Ray Deskins III (Sterling, Va.) marked third with a time of 8:14.31 as they finished behind Boston
College who placed first with a time of 7:43.08 and Grand Valley who finished with a time of 7:49.07 qualifying them for the semi’s against Temple
University, Rollins College, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Washington University with the start of the race starting at 8:42.
In the Men’s Frosh Novice Lightweight 8 final for the ‘Brendan Lynch Cup’ starting at 1:20 in the afternoon,
Florida Tech will be in lane four of the six lane 2000 meter course and competing against Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Dayton, Lehigh, and Purdue for the
trophy. The MNLTWT8 is coxed by Christa Blaisdell (Lake Elmo, MN), stroked by Logan Sailer (Idaho Falls, ID), seventh seat by Stan Van Etten (Orlando,
Fla.), sixth seat by Matt Strand (Melbourne, Fla.), fifth seat by Travis Schramek (Palm Harbor, Fla.), fourth seat by Mateo Arimany (Guatemala City,
Guatemala), third seat by Mark Moyou (Trincity, Trinidad), second seat by Charles Pearson (Destin, Fla.), in the bow seat is Michael Mathews Jr. (Virginia
Beach, Va.).
The Men’s Heavyweight 8 who had the second strongest time overall in their heats marked a time of 6:02.95 while Purdue had the top time of all the heats
finishing with a time of 6:02.38. Tech’s MV8+ will start the 2000 meter course at 10:50 am competing against the Purdue, St. Joe’s and San Diego who all
finished first in their heats. The MV8+ is coxed by Aliyah Snyder (Niceville, Fla.), stroked by Taylor Brown (Winter Park, Fla.), seventh seat Kevin Moore
(Mays Landing, NJ), sixth seat by Jimmy Woodard (Kissimmee, Fla.), fifth seat by Gabe Candelaria (Albuquerque, NM), fourth seat by Tyler Jandreau (China,
Ma.), third seat by Paul Bunkers (Winter Park, Fla.), second seat by Chris Lambert (Plantation, Fla.), and bow seat is Jeff Tessier (Cohoes, NY). Tech will
have to finish in the top two of their heat to reach the finals that will be the last race of the day for the ‘Richard O’Brien Trophy’ at 4:20 pm.
On Tech’s women’s side, the WV8+ finished with second in their heat with a time of 7:09.43 exactly two seconds off the lead boat in the race with Nova
Southeastern University finishing the heat in a time of 7:07.43. Tech will be racing against Grand Valley who had the best qualifying time of 6:52.75;
Washington, Nova Southeastern, Dowling, and Orange Coast are all competing in the final. Coxed by Morgan Tweedie (Osprey, Fla.) stroked by Laurel Borgias
(Spokane, Wash.), seven seat Mikki Devaux (Gros-Islet, St. Lucia), six by Rachel Purvis (Brockville, Ontario), fifth by Amanda Saeger (Des Plaines, Ill.),
fourth seat by Cheryl Skibski (Tolland, Mass.), third seat by Sam Roman (Jacksonville, Fla.), second seat by Safia Tappan (Sarasota, Fla.), and in the bow
seat is Jennifer Johnson (Portland, Oregon) will all be battling for the ‘Evelyn Bergman Trophy’ starting at 4 pm.
To check out the entire Dad Vail Regatta Official Results go to the official Dad Vail website at http://www.dadvail.org/ to get all information on and about the 69th running of the Dad Vail Regatta.
