ORLANDO, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University rowing team opened its 2018 regular spring season this Friday morning at the UCF Intercollegiate Rowing Center on Lake Pickett in Orlando, Fla. The Sharks brought their varsity eight and varsity four boats at to compete against Div. I members University of Connecticut, Jacksonville University and host University of Central Florida.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
LOCATION: Lake Pickett | Orlando, Fla.
HOST: UCF
FOLLOW US: @NSUSHARKS on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
 
CONDITIONS:

• A beautiful day for rowing. 79 degrees and sunny with a slight wind in the middle of the 1,000 meter race.
• Slight tail wind for the earlier racing including the 4+, but less wind as the Varsity 8's came down the course.

 
RACE FORMAT

• One 2,000 meter race head to head with all boats of similar class.

RESULTS

• NSU's varsity four boat of Jessica Cavalier, Barbara Sansur, Nicole Baliszewski, Mikayla Shelton and coxswain Maydelissa Pindell placed fourth with a time of 7:50.44s
• The varsity eight boat also finished fourth with a time of 7:18.33s. The boat consisted of Kasskie Moss, Samantha Loriot, Marnie McLean, Ayelen Vegas, Rayna Stuart, Lisette Villareal, Mikayla Switzer, Emily Stewart and coxswain Victoria Poretti.

BEYOND THE RESULTS WITH COACH FAY

• Both boats went into the weekend with very little race preparation as we just came off our spring training trip. Each boat had their specific focus as then came down the course.
• Our Varsity 4+ boat had a good race despite not having the best start, but they put together a solid middle of the race and hit a good cruising rhythm. They were definitely in striking distance of their competition but with more practice at higher rates, they will be going much faster in a few weeks.
• The Varsity 8+ rowed hard, but needs more time to develop some synchronicity. They hit one of their goals of being patient and attempting to row longer and lower than most of the other crews in the race today, but never quite hit their stride together in the middle of the race. There is a lot of untapped potential in this group and we need a few more weeks to fine tune the line-up before we will be ready for our next race in 2 weeks. 

 
UP NEXT
 
NSU will be back on the water on Mar. 30 and 31 as they travel to Oklahoma City for a new race for this year, The Central Sprints hosted by University of Central Oklahoma with Humboldt State University traveling as well.

SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
 
Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_Rowing.