MELBOURNE, Fla. – Nine scholar-athletes from the Florida Tech men's rowing team have been honored as 2026 Empacher-IRCA Scholar Athletes by the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA). This is the most scholar-athletes Tech has had on the list in program history. 
 
The IRCA Scholar Student-Athlete Award presented by Empacher Bootswerft requires that scholar-athletes must be in their second year or more of eligibility, must have competed in one of the program's top three boats and must have a 3.50 cumulative GPA or higher for their career.
 
Earning the distinction for the Panthers is Apostolos Bitzilekis Apostolidis (Electrical Engineering), Pedro Castro (Electrical Engineering), Jackson Farley (Computer Engineering), Sandro Gardella (Aerospace Engineering), Renger Hakkenberg (Aviation Management/Flight), Liam Holle (Mechanical Engineering), Mykolas Montvila (Computer Science), Hugo Ruzicka (Biomedical Engineering) and Maryam Young (Biomedical Science). Gardella and Ruzicka earned the honor in 2025, while Apostolidis, Castro, Farley, Hakkenberg, Holle, Montvila and Young were recognized for the first time in their careers.
 
The full list of IRCA Scholar-Athletes can be found here.
 
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.
 
Scholar. Champions. Leaders.