Women’s Rowing Makes History at National Championships

Adam Lowenstein June 3, 2019

Florida Tech’s Second Place Finish a First for Program

INDIANAPOLIS – It was the perfect morning as the sun was out and a slight breeze steadily blew throughout Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis. You couldn’t ask for a better setting for a magical end to a historic season as Florida Tech women’s rowing was crowned national runner-ups. The team achieved this result off a second-place finish in the varsity eight (V8) and a third-place result in the varsity four (V4).

Second is the highest finish in Panthers program history as a team and for a Florida Tech V8.

The V4 of Emily Hall (bow), Allyson McCarron, Julia Seibold, Shaula Rey (stroke) and Nashaita Patrawalla (coxswain) was the first to race for the Crimson and Gray. The women got off to a blistering start as they jumped out to an early lead through most of the first 500 meters. However, a University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) charge in the latter part of that stretch was enough to overtake the boat.

The V4 was steady in second place till a late push by Western Washington (WWU) saw them jump the Panthers for the silver medal. The final time for the V4 was 7:32.884.

The final race of the season was Florida Tech’s V8 of Graysen Pensch (bow), Liza Lutter, Irina Djurovic, Anna Kayser Gallego, Theresa Gadilhe, Svetlana Ristin, Federica Pala, Natalia Arasa Bonavila (stroke) and Taylor Stoni (coxswain). This crew also flew off the line and was the leader through the first 500 meters. But a strong second 500 gave UCO the lead for the rest of the race.

Florida Tech’s V8 crossed the finish line with a time of 6:37.088, only four seconds behind UCO (6:33.011).

The Panthers will now get a well-deserved break to rest and refocus before turning their sights to 2019-2020 season.

For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech women’s rowing team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.