SARASOTA, Fla.- The Jacksonville men's rowing team concluded what was a positive day of racing at the FIRA Championships in Sarasota, Florida.

The water in Sarasota made for a great day of racing and with a slight tailwind to match, the boats were cruising for some heated competition. 

"Overall it was a positive day," said head coach Preston Weinard after the event. "It was a different type of championship with all of the events and everyone trying to gun for an overall points trophy; which we were trying to put together a bunch of boats just for that."

In the Varsity Eight's, Jacksonville took second in what was a pool of seven boats, with a time of 5:58.43, just behind Florida Institute of Technology at 5:55.11. The Dolphins finished above familiar foe Stetson by six seconds and Embry-Riddle by 14. 

"The Varsity Eight in the morning I think was a little disappointed with their result and they may have learned a lesson unfortunately that will make them hit it a little harder this week," continued coach Weinard on his teams results throughout the day. The Second and Third Varsity Eight performed very well so that was good to see."

The JV Eight's event saw the Dolphins claim both first and second place ahead of Rollins College and Central Florida. JU's first boat used a 6:08.47 time to claim the victory, with the second boat coming in just eight seconds behind. Jacksonville's second boat was 17 seconds ahead of Rollins and nearly 50 seconds ahead of UCF.

In Varsity Four's , the Dolphins finished in third behind FIT and Embry-Riddle , respectively, with a 6:41.33 time. JU finished just two seconds behind Embry-Riddle and five seconds behind FIT.

In the JV Four's, Jacksonville claimed first place against boats from Rollins College and Central Florida. The Dolphins 7:01.15 time was in first by nearly eight seconds. 

"With the results being so much tighter in the Eight's and Four's it just shows how much Florida rowing has grown and that Florida rowing is not to be underestimated," exclaimed Weinard on his overall impression of the races.

FIT took first in the Men's 2+ with Jacksonville coming in second place. The Dolphins also finished in third in the Men's 2- behind Stetson and FIT, respectively.

The Men's 1x saw Ryan Teofilo fall behind early however a late push from the senior saw a photo finish for first place. Teofilo ultimately came in second by .12 seconds and beating out Florida by 23 seconds and Rollins by over a minute in time.

"Ryan in the singles was down and then sprinted at the end to just barely lose by .12 seconds and it was cool to see him be able to come from behind and push that way," said coach Weinard on his seniors efforts."

In the Freshman/Novice Eight's, Jacksonville came out victorious over the rest of the boats by more than 39 seconds. In the F/N Four's, the Dolphins finished in second behind Rollins College but ahead of the likes of Central Florida, Florida State and UF.

"I think we're going to hit the water a little harder this week," said coach Weinard on what this weeks events will mean for practice ahead of next week's Occoquan Invitational in Fairfax Station, Virginia. "We're going to work on more endurance and length training. We'll hit the grind a little bit more to prepare for SIRA and the guys are fired up to do so."

"Special thank you to the people who organized the regatta. Organizing three groups like this isn't easy, and we appreciate that and are appreciative of the competition with Stetson and FIT. It's cool to see FIT return and keep the pace. It was overall a good day."

For full results, click here

JACKSONVILLE LINEUPS

Varsity 8+

1- Resanovic 

2- Lockett 

3- Teofilo 

4- Ricci 

5- Grunert 

6- Fletcher 

7- Sowash 

8- Veld 

c- Hicks 

JV 8+ A

1- Anthony 

2- Kimrey 

3- Leonard 

4- Simpson 

5- Carmody 

6- Wickham 

7- Connolly 

8- Denney 

c- Rhatigan 

JV 8+ B

1- D'Aloia 

2- Shea 

3- Radloff 

4- Loftesnes 

5- Fors 

6- Parks 

7- Redhead 

8- Ganim 

c- Hester 

2-

1- Levy 

2- Soares 

Freshman/Novice 8+
 

1- D'Aloia 

2- Lockett 

3- Resanovic 

4- Loftesnes 

5- Carmody 

6- Ricci 

7- Grunert 

8- Simpson 

c- Rhatigan 

1x

1- Teofilo 

JV 4+

1- Leonard 

2- Wickham 

3- Redhead 

4- Denney 

c- Newton-Masucci 

2x

1- Anthony 

2- Kimrey 

Freshman/Novice 4+

1- D'Aloia 

2- Shea 

3- Carmody 

4- Soares 

c- Newton-Masucci 

Varsity 4+ B

1- Levy 

2- Parks 

3- Fors 

4- Ganim 

c- Hester 

Varsity 4+

1- Connolly 

2- Fletcher 

3- Sowash 

4- Veld 

c- Hicks