BOSTON – The Northeastern men's rowing team closes out the fall slate this weekend when the Huskies travel to West Windsor, N.J. for the USRowing Small Boat National Championships Presented by the McNabb Family.
The Huskies have 10 athletes scheduled to compete in five pairs. Racing kicks off with time trials on Saturday morning (9:25 a.m.), with the top 19 crews advancing to the A/B/C Semifinals later in the day beginning at 4:09 p.m. All final races will be held on Sunday morning.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1. ABOUT THE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The inaugural USRowing Small Boat National Championship, Presented by the McNabb Family, is a reimagined national event that will bring together the country's top collegiate, senior, and Para athletes for two days of championship racing at Mercer Lake.
Formerly known as the Fall Speed Order, the event has traditionally served as an evaluation opportunity for senior athletes pursuing national team selection. In recent years, however, the regatta has attracted some of the nation's top collegiate programs. Building on that momentum, USRowing has transformed the event into a true national championship while continuing to support the U.S. High Performance pathway.
2. HEAD OF THE CHARLES RECAP
The Huskies had four boats entered across two races at the Head of the Charles regatta last month, highlighted by a eighth place finish overall by the first varsity in the Championship Eights. The first varsity, coxed by
Alex Stamas and stroked by
Maximilian Brill, finished the course with a time of 13:42.589, good for fifth among collegiate entries and nine seconds off the Dutch eight, who are the current world record holders in the 2k.
3. NORTHEASTERN WELCOMES STEVEN SPARKS
Head coach
Alex Perkins announced that
Steven Sparks has joined the staff as an assistant coach. Sparks spent the previous three years at Holy Cross, including the 2025-26 campaign as associate head coach. A native of Simsbury, Conn., Sparks rowed for Bates College as an undergraduate before transferring to Northeastern for his final season of eligibility in 2022-23. With the Huskies, he competed in the second varsity boat that earned victories over Penn, Boston University, Stanford and Wisconsin, among others.
"We are excited to have Steven back with us at Northeastern," Perkins said. "He returns to Northeastern with three years of coaching experience at the Division level and is well set up to help our program take the next step."
