SARASOTA, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's rowing team came up just one point short in its bid for a conference title on Friday morning at Nathan Benderson Park, finishing as the runners-up at the Sunshine State Conference Championships. The Eagles earned their first-ever event win at the SSC regatta, winning the Varsity Four race.
 
ERAU Varsity Four boat, comprised of Lauren Stollenwerk, Samantha Fank, Rebecca McBride, Naomi Brooks, and Kathryn Chilelli, won the day's first race in a time of 8:05.6, beating Florida Tech by 3.8 seconds, with Barry, Tampa, and Rollins rounding out the finishing order.
 
In the Varsity Eight race, Kristen Vigna, Elise Dezotell, Kendra Sander, Bethany Thompson, Gwendolyn Powell, Sofia Lorenzini, Irinia Djurovic, Shelby Ernst, and Megan Byrne clocked a time of 7:12.3 to finish second, 8.7 seconds back of the Florida Tech boat. Barry came in third, with Rollins taking fourth.
 
The Eagles earned a total of 22 points to finish second, just one point behind conference champion Florida Tech. Barry was third with 15 points, while Rollins finished fourth with 10 points. Tampa did not earn any points because they did not enter a Varsity Eight boat.
 
Following the races, Thompson and Brooks were named to the All-SSC Rowing Team, while Ernst was selected to the SSC All-Freshman/Novice Team.
 
Embry-Riddle will now wait to find out if it will receive the sole at-large bid to participate in the 2021 NCAA II Rowing National Championships. The selection show is slated for 5 p.m. on Monday, May 17, and will be live streamed on NCAA.com.