Philadelphia, Pa. - The Rollins men's varsity eight and novice four represented the Tar’s rowing team at the Dad Vail Regatta over the weekend.  
 
The year marked the first time in six years that Rollins had rowed in the regattas premier event, the varsity eight (Eric Pagan (cox), Johnny Hood, Scott Marchfeld, Kyle Magee, Vsevolod Granin, Brian Burch, Adam DeStefano, Mike Cohen and Tim Mazzotta).  

"This is a great accomplishment for our team and one we strive for each rowing season," Head Coach Shawn Pistor said. 

The 29 boat field is one of the fastest in the country for the nation’s smaller schools.  The Tars eight trained hard since Southern Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and found more speed out of themselves.  Unfortunately, they just could not squeeze out enough in the heats to reach the final to finish in sixth place.

“You never want to end your season being bumped early from the regatta, but the varsity eight has nothing to be ashamed of,” Pistor stated.  “The crew gave senior, Scott Marchfeld, an experience he never had in his four years at Rollins.”  

Marchfeld had only rowed in four’s and has a Bronze Medal from Vails. 

"Though it is tough to outdo the experience of winning a Medal at Vails against 54 crews," said Marchfeld. "Representing Rollins up here in the varsity eight ranks up there." 
 
The novice four (Randi Alberry cox, Kevin Crosby, Rob Spolsino, Andrew Cohen, Pat Scullin) had a solid weekend making it to the semi-finals.  In their first race Rollins finished a second behind Bowdin to advance to the semifinal with a  time of 6:58.301. 

The 47-boat field only allowed the top two boats from each of the eight heats to advance, eliminating quite a few teams. 
 
In the semi-finals race Saturday morning, once again only the top two crews advanced to the grandfinals later that afternoon.  Rollins finished third, five seconds out of second to conclude their racing.  

"The novice program had a very successful season both in the novice eighth four," novice coach, Brandon Thompson said. "My goal was to teach these guys how to row and show them what they can do if they stay with the sport over their next three years at Rollins."