PRINCETON, N.J. (Men’s Rowing) – Racing against some of the country’s top teams at the Princeton 3-Mile Chase on Sunday, Florida Tech’s men’s varsity eight placed 20th of 49 at 13:05.97 on Lake Carnegie.  

The Panthers’ time was 58-hundredths of a second faster than Columbia’s B boat, which clocked in at 13:06.028. FIT's time was also faster than "A" boats from Dartmouth, MIT, Holy Cross, Rutgers and St. Joseph’s.

Racing for FIT was coxswain Jessica Mellinger, stroke Jonas Karalius, Ernestas Zarskis, Jose Gomez-Feria, Mindaugas Beliauskas, Plamen Ivanov, John Martin, Troy Toggweiler and bow Frank Campione.

“[Today] was a little disappointing considering how we performed two weeks ago,” head coach Jim Granger said. “Our only common opponent from that race was George Washington, and they beat us today by eight seconds. Today’s race was an opportunity to get better and the fall is always an evaluation period. We learned a lot on the trip and look forward to racing at the FIRA Fall Classic in two weeks.”

Princeton's A boat recorded the fastest time by nearly two seconds over runner-up Northeastern A at 12:25.382. California had the third-best time at 12:34.357. Cornell A and Pennsylvania A rounded out the top five. Navy A, Boston University A, Syracuse A, Georgetown A and Columbia A placed sixth through 10th, respectively.

Granger and the Panthers will host their annual Alumni Race during Homecoming Weekend on Saturday at 10 a.m. at FIT’s boathouse. FIT will then conclude its fall season with the Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association (FIRA) Fall Classic on Saturday, Nov. 10 at Canal 54 in Fellsmere, Fla.