CHERRY HILL, N.J. – The men's frosh/novice 8 struck gold at the 2025 Knecht Cup this afternoon becoming the first crew to win a gold medal at this event in school history. The performance capped the two-day event in which the women's varsity 4, the men's second varsity 8, and the men's varsity 8 also rowed today.
The frosh/novice 8 completed the course this afternoon with a time of 6:37.47, better than 20 second faster than runner-up Army West Point which clocked in at 6:59.24. The Stags were represented by coxswain
Cedric Wysocki, Grant Retelny,
Braeden Gibbons,
Matthew Benestad, Vincent DiPalo,
Trevor Buti,
John Blaney,
Anthony Tapinis, and
Andrew Herman.
The women's varsity 4 competed in the second petite final and came away with a fifth-place finish based on their time of 8:49.86. The boat included coxswain Alisa Tsavaris, Ainsley Hoekzema, Grace Polatsek, Gia Enderle, and Catherine Martin.
The men's second varsity 8 competed in the final this morning and completed the distance in 6:44.96 for sixth place. The shell was comprised of coxswain
Angeles Mendoza,
James Penczak,
Frank DiNatale,
James Casper,
Connor Carroll,
Lanyon Henwood,
Thomas McLaughlin,
Jack Cartnick, and
George Voegele.
The men's varsity 8 was the final Fairfield entry on the day and posted a third-place effort with a time of 6:34.75. The crew included coxswain
Skye Deraffele,
Zalan Kovacs,
Samuel Elliott,
Eamon Tonna,
Nicholas Tapinis,
Ean Ray,
Ryan Wrynn,
Brian Peknic, and
Luca Tarricone.
The Fairfield University men's and women's rowing teams will now prepare for the Novak Memorial Metropolitan Championships in New Rochelle, N.Y. on Saturday, April 26.
