By: Susan Saint Sing

Under beautiful blue skies with no wind Stetson's mens' and womens' crews became state champions in three different events on Saturday.  Racing in the Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association State Championship, Stetson took Gold in the Womens' Double and the Mens' and Womens' Light-Weight Fours. 

Callie Peacock and Caitlin Mooney started Saturday's racing off by winning with five lengths of open water over the field.  Matt Lebron took second place in the mens' single.  He went bow ball to bow ball with the winner, but at the finish line was short a boat length from gold. 

In the next two events, mens' and womens' pairs were both medal contenders with less than twenty meters to the finish when they fell short.  Christy Ruane and Shay Martin, even though they had a silver medal slip through their fingers, will race at the Dad Vail National Championship in May and try to make the medal stand there. 

The mens' pair of Gary Marra and Mike Sigrist, though slipping out of first place with under twenty meters to go, redeemed themselves in the mens' light-weight four by winning gold.  In exciting racing the mens' light-weight four of Garry Marra, Mike Sigrist, Josh Mena, and Bill Brady with Coxwain Erin Lee had open water over Georgia Tech to win in six minutes, forty three seconds.  

In the tightest race of the day the womens' light-weight four of Jaqueline Horbert, Christina Kapusta, Caitlin Mooney, and Caitlin Burke with Coxwain Kerry Burke. were down at the start but came back to win by half a length in 7 minutes, six seconds.  The Stetson womens' open four of Christina Versace, Julia Pearce, Ashley Price-Dyment, Delia Hanna with Coxwain Maddy Briggs, came in fourth in Friday's heat and could not advance to Saturday's finals. 

Stetson Crew races next week at the U.S. Southeastern Regional Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.