DELAND, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's rowing team kicked off its fall season on Saturday at the Hatter Invitational. The Eagles competed exclusively against Stetson in 3200m time trials and the Varsity Eight boats also competed in 1000m sprints.
 
"Thanks to Stetson for putting this event together," Director of Rowing Jamie Francis said. "It's a good way to see where we are against our local Division I competition as well as the strong Division II opponents from South Florida. Our team performed well today although we still have a lot of work to do between now and the spring season. We'll spend the next couple of weeks getting ready for Head of the South and then refocus on spring racing."
 
 The Varsity Eights were the first to take to the water, with a total of five boats, three from ERAU, taking part in a 3200m time trial event. The Eagle "A" boat of Alec Palmer, Guillermo Mazzilli, Josh Busick, Vaclav Kuncak, Mathew Pitchford, Zachary Stith, Jared Liechty, Ethan Boone, and Zachary Friedrichs completed the course in 9:56.0, finishing in second place, just 2.6 seconds behind Stetson's "A" boat. Embry-Riddle's "B" boat of Arik Palmer, Michael George, Noah Thornburgh, Weston Hall, Maxwell Katich, Vincent Jerome, Mason Anderson, Peter Ribbens, and Andrew Flynn was fourth overall in 10:54.4, while the Eagle "C" boat of Alexis Mathis, Brandon Vick, Carmelo Alamo, Joseph Corry, Cyril Narishkin, Louis Spier, Joseph McNaughton, Franklin Rujano Alain, and David Tsnobiladze clocked a time of 11:45.9. Embry-Riddle also had novice boat of Mathis, Rujano Alain, Brandon Babey, Sean Richardson, Isaac Dunavant, Joseph Dickinson, Colin O'Sullivan, Paul Winner, and Nick Abrams  complete the course in a time of 13:47.6.
 
The Eights were then matched up in a pair of 1000m sprints, with the "A" boats facing off against one another and the other three boats competing in a separate sprint. Embry-Riddle's "A" boat came up just short to the Hatters "A" boat, finishing only 4.07 seconds behind Stetson. In the second sprint, ERAU's "B" boat was second, 11.2 seconds behind Stetson's "B" boat, with ERAU's "C" boat crossing the line 29.06 seconds behind the Hatters.
 
Later in the afternoon, the Varsity Fours raced on the 3200m time trial course. Embry-Riddle's "B" boat of Spier, George, Thornburgh, Ribbens, and Katich finished second overall in 11:38.5, 7.4 seconds behind Stetson's "A" boat. The Eagle "A" boat of Alec Palmer, Mazzilli, Busick, Kuncak, and Pitchford was third in 11:45.5, and the Blue and Gold's "C" boat of Stith, Friedrichs, Boone, and Liechty was fifth with a time of 12:35.9.
 
The Eagles return to action at the Head of the South in Augusta, Georgia on Nov. 9, which will wrap up the fall portion of the 2019-20 season.