Iona and Jacksonville Earn Men's and Women's Rowing Weekly Awards

4/8/2015 8:13:00 PM

MAAC Sports

EDISON, N.J. – The Women’s Varsity 8, 2^nd Varsity 8, and Varsity 4 from Jacksonville University sweep the weekly awards on the women’s side this week. The Men’s Varsity 8 from Iona College and the Varsity 4 from Jacksonville College claim the other two awards on the men’s side.

The Jacksonville University Women’s Rowing program was crowned overall FIRA (Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association) champions for the 2^nd time in as many years. The Women’s Varsity 8 from Jacksonville University takes home this week’s award. At the FIRA championships, the Varsity 8 took home the silver medal with a time of 6:59.6, less than 4 seconds behind first place Rollins College. The Dolphins Varsity 8 lineup included Lauren Whetzel, Danielle Keeler, Victoria Tkacz, Juliana Welch, Jessica Mathews, Kelly Cleveland, Bridget Keough, Victoria Hernandez, and Stacey Price.

The Women’s 2^nd Varsity 8 from Jacksonville University takes home the weekly award. The Dolphins 2^nd Varsity 8 bested Central Oklahoma and Rollins College for the gold medal with a time of 7:22.2. The Dolphins 2^nd Varsity 8 included Claire McLenna, Michaela Hill, Emily Woods, Veronika Stasaityte, Ashley Hirt, Jennifer Pavlik, Joan Spinelli, Tori West, and Rylie Ayles.

The Women’s Varsity 4 from Jacksonville University takes home the weekly award. To a tune of 7:46.0, the Varsity 4 took third place behind Nova Southeastern and Central Oklahoma. The Varsity 4 lineup included Lauren Whetzel, Danielle Keeler, Jessica Mathews, Juliana Welch, and Victoria Tkacz.

On the men’s side, the Iona Varsity 8 took home the first men’s award on the season. The Gaels won the 2000-meter race with a time of 8:36.2. They defeated the Fordham A and Fordham B teams by over 16 seconds. The Varsity 8 lineup included freshman coxswain Bianca Mesqueue and rowers Ryan Harding, Thomas Baik, Ryan Dronzek, Brian Fairfield, Brandon O’Sullivan, Troy Madden, Vito Roca, and Abraham Bluestone.

The Men’s Varsity 4 from Jacksonville University took this week’s award. The Dolphins conquered the competition with a time of 7:08.3, besting second place Rollins College by 10 seconds and third place Georgia Tech by over 21 seconds. The Varsity 4 lineup included Coxswain Stephen McDonald and rowers Victor Gargaun, Nathan Esterline, Erik Fournier, and Travis Pulliam.

The 2015 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Rowing Championships will be held on Sunday, May 17 at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.