AIGUEBELETTE, France (Men's Rowing) – Jose Gomez-Feria, a recent Florida Tech graduate and the stroke of the Panthers' 2015 Dad Vail Varsity Eight Championship crew, just missed qualifying for the 'A' Final of the lightweight men's pair at the World Rowing Championships on Thursday.

Gomez-Feria and his bow Sergio Perez Moreno from Spain missed the last spot by just 45-hundredths of a second. USA was the crew that took the third and final ticket from the Second 'A/B' Semifinal. The Americans crossed the finish line at 6:41.01 to Spain's 6:41.46.

France won the semifinal with a mark of 6:39.70. Germany was the runner-up at 6:40.46. Coming in behind Spain for fifth was Russia at 6:50.21 and Austria was sixth at 6:56.36.

Gomez-Feria and Perez Moreno will now fight to win the 'B' Final on Friday at 3:48 a.m. ET/9:48 a.m. local time. Competing against them will be China, Ireland, Czech Republic, Russia and Austria.

A second FIT alum, Taylor Brown '09, rowed for USA in the repechage of the men's coxed pair on Wednesday, placing fifth by 43-hundreths of a second and he nearly missed the 'A' Final. USA's time was 7:03.12 compared to the fourth-best time of 7:02.69 by France.

Brown will row stroke with Frederick Winstead at bow and Jacob Mendelson at coxswain in the 'B' Final on Friday at 3:41 a.m. ET/9:41 a.m. local time.

Also racing on Friday is a third alum of the Panther men's rowing program, Chris Lambert '08. In the 'A' Final of the men's lightweight eight, Lambert and USA will line up alongside France, Germany, Turkey and Italy at 7:35 a.m. ET/1:35 p.m. local time.

Live video, results and a blog will be available for Friday's racing at WorldRowing.com.