SARASOTA, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's and women's rowing teams left the Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships at Nathan Banderson Park as the overall state champions on Saturday. The Eagles were first on the men's side with 126 points, while the women were sixth with 16.5 points, and both teams combined for 142.5 points to take home the overall state title.
The first-year Embry-Riddle program was joined in the top four by the University of Florida (136.5), Jacksonville (83.5) and Stetson (82.5) in a 12-team field that included Sunshine State Conference opponents Barry, Florida Tech, Nova Southeastern, Rollins and Tampa.
The Women's Freshman/Novice 4+ boat of
Kathryn Chilelli, Lauren Stollenwork,
Diana Perera,
Kaya Treder and Athena Pagdiotis raced to a first-place finish in a time of 7:47.50, just .27 seconds ahead of the boat from Barry.
The first state title of the day on the men's side went to the Varsity 8+ as
David Tsnobiladze,
Guillermo Mazzilli,
Galen Marteal,
Peter Douglass,
Ethan Boone,
Zachary Stith, Lucas Ferrando Quilez, Michael George, and
Joe Gunther crossed in 6:01.70.
Stith and Marteal won the men's double in 7:24.90, seconds ahead of the entry from Emory and teammates
Stirling Brandt and
Eric Vogel (8:14.07).
The men's Freshman/Novice 4+ boat consisting of Tsnobiladze, George,
Noah Thornburgh,
Maxwell Katich and
Chessie Newbold won their race in 7:09.40, while Douglass, Gunther,
Ethan Boone,
Nick Horn and
Alyssa Crystal teamed up to win the Lightweight 4+ in 7:15.20.
"I couldn't be more proud of the effort this team has put in over the past seven months," ERAU Director of Rowing Jamie Francis said. "When Bob [Van Twyer] and I sat down last summer to plan our first year as a varsity program, one of our goals was to win the overall points trophy at the FIRA State Championship Regatta. That became a reality this weekend. More than any other regatta that we've attended this spring, every individual on the team contributed towards this accomplishment. We're excited to bring a few trophies back to campus but still have work to do in order to make a similar statement on the regional stage."
Next up for the Blue and Gold is the SIRA Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, April 21-22.
