OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (April 16, 2023) – Sunday's grand final of the Men's Lightweight Four (
Jonathan Becker,
Christian Sweeney,
Beau Christopher,
Nick Villamil, and
Jay Kineon) was the first time this crew lined up head-to-head with their competition for the weekend. After coming out of the time trials with the second-fastest time, Rollins knew they were in for a tough race. For their grand final, they come off the start leading the pack with Alabama gradually working their way into Rollins near the 1000-meter mark. The Tars fought and fought to not relinquish their lead. Alabama definitely had to earn their victory over Rollins, who finished six seconds behind and eight seconds ahead of Texas. The silver medal for Rollins was a huge success from this weekend.
This is the first time in quite a few years that Rollins has entered the Men's Varsity Eight. The boat (
Theodore Preaus,
Costa Demetriades,
James Cone,
Timothy Edwards,
Reese Duntley,
Fredrik Bang-Andreasen,
Cooper Richart,
Samuel McCullen, and
Grant Dougherty) represented the Tars well earning their way into the petite finals. This race lived up to what was expected and the Tars fought hard every stroke. Purdue and Delaware took an early lead, leaving the rest of the boats to fight it out, and what a fight it was. Rollins, Vanderbilt, UNC, and Virginia Tech were all in contact through 1200 meters of the race changing leads throughout. Vanderbilt and UNC slipped away finishing third and fourth just 0.2 seconds apart. Rollins finished fifth by one second over Virginia Tech. Rollins looks to continue building on this success throughout the remainder of this season and into the next.
The Men's Varsity Pair (
Joseph Fink and
Cristian Ramos) rowed a solid race from start to finish executing their game plan throughout. The pair were the first race of the day and set a positive start for the remaining boats. They crossed the line fifth in the grand final, with Alabama finishing 12 seconds ahead and SMU three seconds behind.
For the full results, click here.
UP NEXT:
Dad Vails is the final stop for the 2023 Spring racing season, which will take place in mid-May.
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