Florida Tech Rowing Makes Strong Debut

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Rowing) – Both the Florida Tech men’s and women’s rowing teams made
their season debuts in Jacksonville, Fla. in the First Coast Head Race on Saturday.   The men’s team was able to secure first, fifth and sixth place
in the men’s 4+ division. In first place sophomore Christa Blaisdell was the coxswain for freshman Jon Lothian, senior
Chris Lambert, freshman Ryan Bell and junior Tyler Jandreau with a time of only 17 minutes flat.
Sophomore coxswain Matt Landau led sophomore Wes Dunne, sophomore Randy Boe, sophomore Stanley
van Etten and freshman Chris Carlson to fifth place with a time of 17:49. Freshman coxswain Casey Dalal led
senior Steve Lindstrom, sophomore Kevin Moore, junior Taylor Brown, and senior Paul
Bunkers to a time of 16:49, good enough for first place, but a one-minute penalty pushed the overall time to 17:49. A passing rule was
misinterpreted.   In the men’s 8+, Florida Tech took first and second in the race. Blaisdell led the team of junior Logan Sailer,
junior Matt Strand, freshman Richard Kelly, junior Ryan Krajcik, sophomore Travis
Schramek, sophomore Mark Moyou, sophomore Charlie Pearson and sophomore Mike Mathews to a first
place time of 17:31. Dalal led the team of Lothian, Lamber, Bell, Jandreau, Linsdstrom, Moore, Brown and Bunkers to a speedy time of only 16:56, but
due to a one-minute penalty the team settled for second place and a time of 17:56.   “We felt good about our strokes this weekend,” head coach
Jim Granger said. “We got the season off to a good start so far and we’d like to go up from here.”   In the women’s 8+, the Panthers
took second. Junior coxswain Aileen Liu led the team of sophomore Laurel Borgias, sophomore Mikaela
Devaux, junior Jennifer Johnson, sophomore Julie Mabry, freshman Yejide Meyers, sophomore
Lindsay Pisani, sophomore Samantha Roman and sophomore Amanda Saeger to a time of 17:59.   Liu also
led a team in the women’s 4+. Borgias, Myers, Pisani and Roman finished with a time of 23:50 for sixth place in the race.   “We’re happy with where
we’re at for this point of the season,” head coach Adam Thorstad said. “We still have work to do, but it was a good measuring stick for
this point in time.”   Florida Tech rowing will see its next action on November 10 at Canal 54 in Fellsmere, Fla.