Sarasota, Fla. – The Stetson men's rowing team defended its state titles in both the 8+ and 4+ varsity races over the weekend at the Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship.
The Hatters bested four other crews, including boats from the University of Florida and UCF, to take back-to-back titles in the Varsity 8+ race. Led by coxswain
Bennett Rossell, a sophomore, the Stetson crew crossed the finish line in the race with a time of 6:02.7, besting the second-place boat from Embry-Riddle by 8.19 seconds. The boat from Rollins finished third with UF and UCF at the back of the field.
The championship crew for the Hatters included seniors
Grant Miller and
Gabriel Laverde, junior captains
Vincent Leffler and
Lucas Quinby, sophomores
Matthew Franks and
Kaden Bowles and freshmen
Charles Abrahams and
William Hubbard.
The Hatters also brought home gold in the Varsity 4+ race with senior
Walter Klein as the coxswain and rowers Miller, Quinby, Franks and Leffler powering the boat. Stetson once again bested the crew from Embry-Riddle, posting a time of 6:36.15 with the Eagles second, 9.65 seconds back. Florida finished third more than half a minute off the pace with UCF a distant fourth.
"We were able to piece together six races that were podium finishes," Hatters' coach
Jamie Francis said. "The Varsity Eight defended their State Championship from last year, as did the Varsity Four. Along with those two boats, the "B" Four also earned gold."
Stetson's "B" 4 was led by junior
Artemio Escobar in the coxswains' seat. His crew included Hubbard, Abrahams as well as juniors
Matthew Clendening and
Dylan Robertson. Like in the other two races, the Hatters bested second place Embry-Riddle, in this case crossing in 7:05.38, 11.1 seconds in front of the Eagles. The Rollins boat crossed the finish line third with Florida fourth.
In the Varsity 2 race, Stetson's duo of Miller and Quinby finished a close second behind the Embry-Riddle boat to take silver. The Hatters finished with a time of 7:10.74, just 5.71 seconds behind the ERAU boat.
The other race for the Hatters produced a third-place finish for Bowles in the singles competition. He posted a time of 7:57.93 to finish 30.69 seconds behind the entrant from Georgia Tech.
The Hatters have a couple of weeks off to prepare for their next event, which comes April 15-16 at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship regatta. That event will take place on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and is returning this spring after a two-year absence due to the Covid pandemic.
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS.
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