PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The Men's Varsity 8+ crew competed in the Petite Final at the second day of the 2023 Dad Vail Regatta on the Cooper River Saturday afternoon and took second place with a time of 05:54.180. Florida Tech was 00.423 second behind Rutgers with Lehigh (05.59.423) taking third in the Petite Final.
 
The Panthers crew qualified for the Petite Final's Friday by placing third in the Semi 3 covering the 2,000-meter course in 05:59.639 for a third-place finish. Joining Tech in the Petite Final are Lehigh, Rutgers, Stetson, Marietta and Rhode Island.
 
Stetson jumped out to the lead early on as all six boats were bow to bow for what seemed like nearly the entire race. Out of the gate Tch was rowing a near 44 strokes per minute. The first 500m of the race were too close to call as Tech and Rutgers were near neck and neck for third before the two eventually jumped out to first and second as the Panthers eventually jumped out and tried to hold off Rutgers with a near 900m left in the race. As the eight panthers were rowing approximately 36.5 strokes per minutes coming to the finish they were still bow to bow with Rutgers. In the final few seconds of the race the Scarlett Knight powered past the Panthers as the Crimson and Gray gave it their all, but fell to second in the Petite final.
 
Varsity 8+
Coxswain / Elizabeth Bowman
8 / Sandro Gardella
7 / Justas Kuskevicius
6 / Domantas Marocka
5 / Omer Bayram
4 / Joshua Navarro
3 / Zach Judge
2 / Arnedas Kelmelis
Bow / Hayden Linke
 
UP NEXT: Florida Tech is back on the water Sunday, May 14th and will compete at the Atlantic Sprints in Occoquan, Virginia.
 
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech men's rowing team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.