Editor's Note: The Marist Athletics Department is continuing to highlight its Senior Awards finalists. From April 20-May 15, a feature story will be presented on each finalist for Sportsperson of the Year.

Female Sportsperson Finalists: Megan Fergus (Volleyball) | Sydney Ford (Women's Rowing) | Alana Gilmer (Women's Basketball) |  Denise Grohn (Women's Cross Country/Track) | Rebekah Hand (Women's Basketball) | Samantha Mehalick (Women's Lacrosse) | Anais Mathes (Water Polo) | Ali Milam (Softball) | Juliet Nowak (Swimming & Diving) | Claire Oberdorf (Softball/Women's Basketball) | Alexa Svensson (Women's Soccer)
 
Male Sportsperson Finalists: Raislan Aiken (Swimming & Diving)
 
Previous finalists: Female Strength & Conditioning (April 14) | Male Strength & Conditioning (April 15) | Female Pizzani (April 16) | Male Pizzani (April 17)
 
POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – In June of 2016, Woolwich, NJ native Matthew Blaszczyk began his Marist College orientation having never rowed in his life.
 
By June of 2020, he will be a USRowing U23 Selection Camp invitee, an IRA Championship participant, the program record holder in the 6K distance on the ergometer, and a finalist for Marist's 2020 Male Sportsperson of the Year.
 
Not too shabby for someone who picked up the sport in college for the first time.
 
Blaszczyk's story of walking on to Marist Men's Rowing and emerging as one of the most talented rowers in the program's storied history displays his talent and drive. However, the credit extends beyond just the 6-foot-6 senior.
 

STARTING OUT

 
Blaszczyk was always active, having played soccer, basketball, and baseball in high school. At the collegiate level, he was interested in continuing to play sports, but was unsure of which sport to try out for.
 
His first interest in rowing arrived at that June orientation. In his cohort, another incoming freshman was recruited for the Red Foxes, and enticed Blaszczyk to try out for the program.
 
"That stuck with me throughout the summer," said Blaszczyk. "About a week before entering my freshman year, I emailed (Director of Rowing Tom Sanford and Head Coach Campbell Woods) just letting them know I had an athletic background, and was interested in learning how to row, but had absolutely no experience."
 
Ordinarily, asking to play a sport with no competitive or recreational experience would put someone at a disadvantage. However, Blaszczyk's case is not unique to him. A sizable portion of Marist's roster consists of walk-ons, with rowing experience varied amongst each individual. Coach Sanford and Coach Woods mentioned to Blaszczyk that for the type of size and school Marist is, the program spends time finding athletic students from the general population and teaching them how to row.
 
It was a perfect fit to start, and would prove to fit better as the years went on.
 

PAST THE LEARNING CURVE

 
There are fewer sports that implement team chemistry and technique more so than rowing. If one person is out of sync in his or her movements with the rest of the team, the speed and performance falters.
 
The fundamentals were tough to initially grasp for Blaszczyk, despite his athletic background.
 
"The athletic movements of running, catching, jumping, kicking had all come naturally to me, but as soon as I got into a rowing shell for the first time, that muscle memory didn't really seem to matter. The rowing stroke is such a unique movement that engages different muscle groups in the body that I was not accustomed to."
 
In the first couple weeks of practice, Blaszczyk would even apologize to his crewmates before they hit the water, anticipating that he would mess up the rhythm of the boat. "It was really awkward and frustrating for the first couple of weeks."
 
Despite his own admission of his shortcomings, he continued to hone his craft. He received invaluable help from V8 coxswain Ryan Lillis, '18, his senior of two years.
 
"At this time, I was still figuring out the proper technique of the stroke and Lillis did not let me forget that. Practice after practice, he would call me out multiple times during a single row about things I was doing wrong and needed to improve. And I am so thankful that he did this. No matter how many times he repeated the same correction, he never became irritated or upset. He would critique me in a way that an older brother would for his younger brother; he was strict and to the point but always wanted me to succeed as much as I did… He pounded the proper way to row into my head and I'm so glad he never gave up on me."
 
As the weeks turned into months during his rookie campaign, the results began to show. In the fall, he started as the only true novice out of a recruited crew in the Freshman 8. In that boat, he helped guide the Red Foxes to a first-place finish at the Head of the Housatonic, and a top-five result at the Head of the Fish.
 
In the spring of 2017, he pulled off the feat of making the Varsity 8, the fastest boat on the program. In that semester, the Marist V8 placed third at the President's Cup and earned the gold at the Ithaca Invitational.
 
It took a little longer than the spirited Blaszczyk wanted, but his athletic acumen was paying off in his rowing development.
 
"Matt is an uncommonly proficient athlete and showed, in his freshman year, that he had the tools to take his rowing to the elite level," remarked Woods. "(He) showed in his first month exactly why Marist still heavily recruits walk-on novices from the incoming freshman class."
 

A VARSITY 8 MAINSTAY

 
After Blaszczyk won that Varsity 8 spot, he never gave it up the rest of his Marist career. With that sixth seat, he helped Marist Men's Rowing return to heights it hadn't reached in over a decade.
 
That prominence starts with the National Invitational Rowing Championship (NIRC), held annually to determine which teams make the IRA National Championship. Marist's V8 sought to win its race to gain an automatic spot into IRAs, with foes Bates and Hobart providing tough competition. To this day, the race sticks out in Blaszczyk's memory.
 
"About halfway through the race, we were losing to both of these teams, with Bates being almost an entire length ahead of us. The only chance we had to win was if we started our sprint (which is normally saved for the last 400-500 meters) with approximately 800m left in the race.  What was so great about this race was that every person in the boat committed to that race decision and absolutely emptied the tank, leaving it all on the course."
 
The Red Foxes settled for the silver, though their push would've given them the gold had the race extended 50 further meters. Despite that, the IRA committee reviewed Marist's body of work during the season. The V8 had a fish head from the Head of the Fish, and top-five results at the Head of the Charles, President's Cup, Kerr Cup, and the NIRC. With this, Marist earned an at-large bid into the IRAs, its first appearance in over 11 years.
 

NATIONAL NOTORIETY

 
By his junior year, Blaszczyk and the Marist V8 consistently showed up in the IRA Top 25 national rankings during the spring season. Even so, the team still sought out to gain the respect it felt it had not received in recent years. The midseason race against Georgetown, Holy Cross, and Temple encapsulated that mission.
 
"At this race in previous years, Marist had been kind of looked at as not belonging, with the low point of that being one year when Marist was simply left off the results sheet," explained Blaszczyk. "So essentially this fueled the fire in the coming years."
 
In Princeton, the No. 23-ranked Varsity 8 roared to a commanding lead in the first 1000m, securing the victory in 5:39.8. In addition, the No. 25 Third Varsity 8, which ranked behind the Hoyas and Owls, triumphed with an open water victory, cementing Marist's place as the dominant program out of the four.
 
"What made that race so special was how we were able to climb the ranks with those teams and gain the respect we deserved," added Blaszczyk.
 
Though it represented a team achievement and effort, it highlights Blaszczyk's upward trajectory as his Red Fox tenure rolled on. He competed in the Varsity 4+ at the 2019 IRA National Championship to make his second appearance.
 
As the men's rowing program rose in national notoriety, so did Blaszczyk's skills.
 

BITTERSWEET SENIOR YEAR

 
Sadly, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Blaszczyk did not get the chance to lead the Red Foxes in his senior spring season. Even so, he received outstanding recognition when he was selected for the USRowing U23 National Team Camp. It is recognition for the top collegiate athletes around the nation, who battle for seats in the USRowing Men's 8 and Men's 4+ crews for the U23 World Championships.
 
Though the U23 World Championships will not happen because of the pandemic, Blaszczyk is grateful for the recognition. In fact, he credits the program for the reward than his own individual feats.
 
"It was a great honor to be selected for the U23 National Team Selection Camp… (It) speaks volumes about the coaching staff at Marist and the elite training plan and competitive environment that they have been able to create. If it wasn't for the friendly intersquad competition and dedication of every member on the team, I would never have been pushed to achieve this selection."
 
The honor represents the pinnacle of Matthew Blaszczyk's Marist career. He can still add to his resume with the Sportsperson of the Year, should that come. Whether it does or not, Blaszczyk looks back on his time as a Red Fox and cares most about the camaraderie of a program that accepted him when he arrived to Poughkeepsie without one stroke under his belt.
 
"You have to be kind of crazy to get up at 5:30 a.m. every morning to go work out, and every person on the team is committed to that. That sort of dedication to a cause produces a culture of winning and success. On this team we are family. The way the sport is designed is that you must be so perfectly in sync with your crewmates to succeed and to practice this perfection on a daily basis really forms a special bond that no other sport has."
 
Spoken like a true rower. He's not a novice anymore.