|
 The Florida Tech Men’s
Crew Program has started to return to its
dominating ways of the 1980s. The 13 seniors
who anchor this program and Head Coach
Marc Mandel respect the past traditions
of these powerhouse crew programs of yesteryear.
The senior class includes: Ryan Burton,
Aaron Collins, Michael De Rosa, Sean Goodwin,
Ken Gottschalk, Leigh Honeycut, Tom Lange,
Andrew Merlino, Matt Murtha, Steve Plunket,
Matt Russon, Eric Snyder and Ryan Strauss.
Senior
computer engineering major Strauss, from
Boca Raton, Fla., and fellow fourth-year
rower and aerospace engineer/flight major
Plunket from Hurley, N.Y., have helped
guide this program to its current prominence.
Both Strauss and Plunket are honor students
and Florida Tech scholar-athletes, as
well as winners of numerous medals in their
collegiate careers at Florida Tech.
The
current student-athletes found a way
to honor the program’s alumni by
debuting a retro look last fall at the
Head of the Chattahoochee Regatta in
Gainesville, Ga. At the regatta, they sported
their
new red/gray/black striped jerseys that
used to be synonymous with Florida Tech
crew. Perhaps not coincidentally, they
rowed their way to victories in the Championship
Men’s Eight, Lightweight Men’s
Eight, Championship Men’s Four,
Open Men’s Pair, and Lightweight
Men’s
Single at the Lake Lanier Olympic Rowing
Venue.
“With the revival
of the old look and striped jerseys we
have come full circle to our
past prominence as the underdogs
who, in the 80s, upset Temple to win Dad
Vails,” said
Plunket. “By taking ownership
of the team—even though we
did not know these alumni—we
are following their path not by praising
the chariot but honoring
the horses.”
This strong sense
of tradition and respect for their
fellow alumni has
been a driving
force this season, especially for
the seniors in their quest for
excellence. In the past
few years, Florida Tech has moved
slowly
toward regaining their swagger.
A strong ’05
season should prove the culmination
of their efforts. Nine of these men
began
their adventure four years ago as
novices who had never rowed prior
to coming to
Florida Tech.
“In the past, my
goals were only winning, but now I want
to leave a legacy of hard
work and excellence,” stated
Strauss. “If
we medal at Dad Vails and don’t
leave a strong commitment of
teamwork for the
underclassmen then we have not
accomplished anything … the
best thing we could do for our
program is to define a high
level of commitment that should
bring success.”
Unlike
most collegiate sports, rowing
is not a scholarship program
and
is not a
sponsored NCAA sport. Most
of the athletes take to the water
for
the first time
during their freshman year,
looking to find a
way to fit in at Florida Tech.
Coach Mandel, along with Women’s
Head Coach Casey Baker, rely
heavily on a strong freshman
recruitment on campus during
the first few weeks of the
academic year. Their goal
is to target former swimmers,
surfers, other water athletes
and athletes from
other sports who have the desire
to continue their athletic
careers.
There is usually a
flux of student-athletes
during the
fall to spring seasons
but the ones who can endure
the rigorous life of
a crew athlete will stick
for life. A typical day for a crewmember
includes a 5 a.m.
wake-up call and a 5:30 a.m.
practice
six days a week. Classes
begin
at 8
a.m.,
noon
is lunch time, and after
1 p.m. there is a scheduled second
work-out,
either
in
the Clemente Center fitness
area or at the boathouse,
which consists
of
erging
or lifting weights. Dinner
is around 5 p.m., after which
there
may be
some early
evening fund raising and
studying for the remaining night hours.
Because
crew is a non-scholarship sport and requires
a hefty
budget for the
program to run effectively,
fund raising is an
everyday reality that the
members must carry on their
shoulders.
The backbone
of the program comes from
the 13 seniors who have
chosen to take
the proverbial
oar by the hand and strive
for excellence. On the
front of their
boathouse there
is a motto written across
the
arch “Persistence
preVails if all else fails,” These
words reminds the student-athletes
to strive for excellence
and to work hard to produce
at Dad Vails.
“I feel the team’s
attitude has really brought
this team together and
made them
a successful program,” stated
coach Mandel. “With
all the different personalities,
they have learned to take
pride and ownership of
the team, which makes it
almost impossible
for them not to be winners.”
Christa
Parulis-Kaye |
