Oak Ridge, Tenn. – Rollins men's rowing closed out competition at the 2026 SIRA Championships with strong performances across all entries, highlighted by a podium finish from the Men's Novice 8.
The Tars competed in the Varsity 8, Men's Pair, and Novice 8, with each crew improving their times throughout the weekend and finishing with their strongest rows in the final rounds.
The Men's Novice 8 delivered the highlight performance of the weekend, earning a bronze medal in a tightly contested grand final. Sitting in fourth at the 500-meter mark and trailing Purdue's B boat through much of the race, Rollins began to make its move with 800 meters remaining. The crew steadily gained ground, seat by seat, gaining momentum before ultimately overtaking Purdue late and securing third place by just 0.8 seconds. Virginia claimed gold, while Purdue's A boat took silver.
Novice 8 Lineup
Burke Dunne (Coxswain)
Cole Messer
Alejandro Martinez
Kurt Young
Sam Birnbaum
Greydon Stuber
Max Van Alphen
Alexander Matteson
Koby Preputin
In the Varsity 8, Rollins turned in an impressive performance in the third-level final. After trailing Florida by two seats with 800 meters to go, the Tars found another gear and surged forward, passing both Florida and UGA to finish second behind Alabama. Rollins crossed 1.2 seconds ahead of UGA and 1.9 seconds ahead of Florida in a strong closing effort.
"We love racing anyone and everyone," said head coach Pistor. "This crew had lost to Florida at home earlier in the season with a different lineup, so coming back to beat them from behind was good in so many ways."
Varsity 8 Lineup
Belle Wallin (Coxswain)
Dylan Drew
Andrew Vieth
Samuel McCullen
Ben Scotch
Camilo Lopez-Morton
Guillermo Acha
Nikolai Zemlanski
Hayden Daoust
The Tars finished the weekend third out of 14 crews in the Novice 8, 14th out of 20 in the Varsity 8, and eighth out of nine in the Pair.
Rollins will return to action May 8–9 at the Dad Vail Regatta on the Cooper River, with an alumni tent on the shore for those in attendance.
