ITHACA, New York - The Marist men's rowing team traveled to Ithaca NY yesterday to compete in an annual double dual event with Colgate, Ithaca, and Hamilton. Owing to recent injuries and race scheduling issues only the top men's varsity 8 attended the event.

The Marist V8 consisted of Ryan Lillis (cox), Raymond Mattingly (Stroke), Joseph Kohn (7), Matthew Blaszczyk (6), Tadd Bindas (5), Morgan Stippa (4), Thomas Roach (3), Christpher Lazich (2), and Daniel Arrato (Bow).

Conditions were flat on the Ithaca inlet with a substantial tail wind on the first 800m of the race course fading to flat water at the finish

The crew began their day with a dual race against Colgate. After a close race with Colgate at Kerr Cup two weeks ago the stage was set for a great race between closely matched crews. Marist had a good start but the Colgate crew was quicker taking a two seat lead off of the start line in the first few strokes. After the opening strokes the Marist crew set to work at a high rate around 38 stroke per minute. Over the next 1000m the Marist crew slowly walked through Colgate to take a lead by about 1 boat length. As the finish approached the Colgate crew made a furious push to get back into contention with the Marist boat. They took a few seats back on Marist however Marist then pushed away again to win the race by a length in 5:50.17 with Colgate closely trailing at 5:52.42

Hamilton beat Ithaca in their heat by two seconds in another close match which set up an afternoon final for Marist against Hamilton. The Marist crew was quicker off the line this time taking a one length lead early in the first 500m and cruising away to a 3-4 length lead in 5:56.93 to Hamilton's 6:10.57. This win earned Marist the win for the regatta over all 3 crews.

"The V8 went into this weekend confident in their horsepower over Colgate but knowing they were a feisty crew who would push us. As predicted this was the fastest race of the day and we were pleased to come out on top. The eight continues to put the pieces together each week in training to find new speed and we are excited to be heading into championship season with good momentum." - Men's Coach Campbell Woods

This double dual race marks the completion of the regular season schedule for 2018. During the season Marist placed

- 3rd of 16 at Murphy Cup , Philadelphia, PA
- 1st of 4 at President's Cup, Poughkeepsie, NY
- 5th of 20  at Kerr Cup, Philadelphia, PA
- 2nd of 3 at Temple/Holy Cross Dual
- 1st of 4 at Colgate, Hamilton, Ithaca Duals

The team now faces a week off for training before they attend the National Invitational Rowing Championships on May 11th.