CAMBRIDGE, MA—Today, the Marist men's rowing team competed in its first regular-season race of the Spring schedule, the annual dual against MIT in Cambridge, MA. Three races were completed along a 2000m section of the Charles River Basin in downtown Boston, MA. Conditions were partly cloudy and cool, with a strong and gusty quartering tailwind of 10-15 mph. The water was flat near the start line and grew progressively choppier as the athletes proceeded down the course.

The morning's first race had the Marist 3rd and 4th Varsity eights competing against MIT's 3rd Varsity. The Marist 3rd Varsity Eight consisted of Evelyn Disque (cox), Jack Taddei (stroke), Dylan Kresge (7), Mason Roy (6), Drew Ngo (5), Peter Martinich (4), Matthias Topping (3), Dante Karaiskos (2), Nolan Keane (bow). The 4th Varsity Eight consisted of Anthony Proia (cox), Evan Brown (stroke), Spencer Crum (7), Zachary Schwarz (6), Matteo Spain (5), Jesse Hinkle (4), Mark Carguello (3), Mason Lockowitz (2), Julius Stratton (bow). The race started very tightly, with all three boats coming through the early strokes evenly spaced, and the Marist 4V took two seats in the early going. In the first 500m, the Marist and MIT 3rd varsities gradually pulled even and then ahead of the Marist 4V by about half a boat length. In the 2nd 500m, the Marist 3V made a push to pull ahead of the Engineers and took a four-seat least, which gradually expanded to 6-7 seats at the 1000m mark. In the third 500m, the Marist 3V continued to expand its lead, pulling away to an open-water lead, while the MIT 3V gradually pulled away from the Marist 4V. In the final 500m, the Marist 3V8 pushed ahead of MIT, while the Marist 4V rallied to sprint and close the distance with MIT. The final margins were a win for the Marist 3rd Varsity in a time of 6:17.6, followed in 11 seconds by MIT's 3rd Varsity in a time of 6:28.6 and then 7 seconds back to the Marist 4th Varsity in a time of 6:35.7.

The morning's second race took place between the Marist and MIT 2nd Varsity Eights. The Marist crew consisted of Tessa Kurtzman (cox), Jackson Bower (stroke), Holden Kopcsik (7), Nicholas Fracasso (6), Nolan Libby (5), Connor Tandy (4), Francis Lyons (3), William Klemm (2), and Adam Wittmann (bow). This race was fought from end to end, with both crews coming out hard in the first 500m and going stroke for stroke down the first 500m, with both crews occasionally taking a slight lead of 1 or 2 seats. After hitting the 500m mark in a dead heat, the Marist crew took a big push at around 650m in and took a four-seat lead on MIT. Over the next 500m, MIT repeatedly attacked this lead, with Marist responding and taking another big move around the 1000m mark to get a roughly one-length lead on the Engineers. The crews battled along the final 500m, taking moves to attack one another but not making any tangible gains. Marist won the race in a time of 6:08.7, with MIT trailing by 3 seconds at 6:11.9.

The day's final race pitted the Varsity Eights of both teams against each other. The Marist V8 consisted of Matthew Wright (cox), Tristan Wistuba (stroke), James Hadjandreas (7), William Shockley (6), David Livingston (5), Charlie Latimer (4), Austin Thomas (3), Ian Sondhof (2), and Thomas Graves (bow). Again, this race started with a furious sprint from both crews, and with the early starting strokes down, Marist had taken a slight one-seat lead. MIT fought back hard, and at the 500m mark, the two crews were dead, even having repeatedly attacked one another to no gain. Marist made a move at 600m, which gained two seats, and MIT eventually battled back at the 1000m mark. With half the race to go, the MIT V8 made a furious attack, and Marist took a few fumbled strokes in the choppy water, which resulted in a 3-5 seat lead that grey in the 3rd 500 to roughly a boat length. Marist fought back harder in the final 500m, repeatedly charging at the MIT crew, but ultimately, MIT's Varsity took the win with a time of 5:54.5, 3 seconds ahead of Marist in 5:57.4.

COACH'S COMMENTS:
"We had a great race in Boston today, in classic early spring conditions, to continue a fantastic rivalry with MIT. Our 2nd and 3rd varsity eights put on a great show of our program's depth and prospects, and our 4th varsity team showed some great persistence in their race against the 3Vs. In the Varsity Eight race, we delivered a fantastic first 1000m but faltered slightly in our execution in the third quarter of the race. With five freshmen and two sophomores in the top crew, this was an exceptional result against a far more experienced MIT varsity team, closing out a significant portion of the 14-second gap we saw in 2024 and showcasing the depth of talent already embedded in our young crew. Already, we're showing considerably improved execution compared to last week's scrimmage at Trinity, and we're excited to get back to work this week in practice and continue honing our crews!" - Campbell Woods, Head Coach of Men's Rowing.

WHAT'S NEXT:
Marist will compete again this coming Saturday at a dual in Medford, MA, against crews from Tufts, Wesleyan, and Bates.

MORE LINKS:
See some live video of today's racing and our coach's recap at this link.