Justin Green Men's Varsity Coach Contact: jag233@cornell.edu Rowing Experience: 8 years Education: UF Law Student

Justin Green began his rowing career in 2001 at a central Florida rowing program while he was in highschool. He then attended Cornell and was on the lightweight men's team from 2005 to 2009 while studying for his undergraduate degree. After he graduated from Cornell, he went back to coach for his highschool team for two years before transferring to UF to finish his law degree. He is now a 3rd year law student at the University of Florida.

Mary graduated from the University of Florida in 2011 with her B.S. in Exercise Physiology. She joined UF's crew team in 2008 as a coxswain and acted as the Varsity Men's coxswain for the following two years. She is currently pursuing medical schools hoping for a career in sports medicine.

Krystina Sarff Women's Novice Coach Contact: krybsarf@ufl.edu Rowing Experience: 8 years Education: Ph.D Student at Univeristy of Florida

Krystina began her rowing career at the University of Florida with Florida Crew in 2004 before earning an athletic scholarship with the University of Central Florida’s NCAA Division I varsity rowing team in 2004.  While at UCF she competed in the Varsity 8+ for her every race in her career.  She helped lead the Knights to their first-ever top-20 national ranking; during the 2006-2007 season, the Varsity 8+ climbed as high as ninth in the national poll.  The same year, Krystina and the other members of UCF’s Varsity 8+ earned UCF’s first NCAA Championship berth.   During her time at UCF she was a three-time All-American, three-time CRCA South Region First Team, a three-time UCF team MVP, three-time Captain of the UCF rowing team, and a four-time National Scholar-Athlete.  She was also named the UCF Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2007 and was one of 58 nationally-selected student-athletes to receive the 2008 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

Krystina competed and trained with the U.S. Senior National and Under-23 National Rowing teams between 2005 and 2009.  She was also a member of Vesper Boat Club where she competed and won gold in the Women’s Championship 8+ at Canadian Henley and U.S. Club Nationals in 2009. 

In addition to her coaching duties with the Florida rowing team, Krystina is currently a PhD student in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management in the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida.  She completed her Master’s degree from the University of Central Florida in Rhetoric and Composition in 2009 and graduated Cum Laude with her Bachelor’s degree from UCF in Liberal Studies in 2007.

Chris Tippin Women’s Varsity Coach Contact: coachtippin@yahoo.com (904) 226-6956 Rowing Experience: 9 years Education: Jacksonville University Alumni

Chris Tippin began his rowing career during his freshmen year at JU in 1993 being a part of the freshmen 8+ that finished 4th at Dad Vails.  In his rowing career his team won many races, raced in the prestigious Royal Henley Regatta in England, and in his senior year was awarded the Bull Oarsmen award by his fellow teammates.  He then used his 5th year of NCAA DIV I eligibility to walk onto the cross country/track team and made the travel team for the cross country NCAA Div I Regional’s.

After graduating from college Chris began coaching at The Bolles School and at the end of the season was given the opportunity to return to his alma mater at JU.  In his first year coaching his true novice women won many races, including the Grand Final at SIRA's with open water.  Following that season he was invited to coach at Episcopal in Jacksonville and became certified as a US Rowing Coach. In this year, his freshmen men didn't lose a single race- and went on to win the State Championship.  After one year of coaching Episcopal, Chris decided to return to JU and coach the novice women and had a successful season, finishing off the season with a close 2nd place finish in the Grand Finals at SIRA's.

After 5 years of coaching Chris decided to take some time off to start a family and travel the world, but was still very active in athletics at that time. In 2004, Chris set the world record in rowing on the erg for the 100km distance for a lightweight that stood till 2009. He has been very active in the triathlon community since 1996, competing both nationally and internationally. Within the past four years, his sole focus has been the IronMan race. Chris and his wife, Lin now live in Gainesville with their 1 year old daughter Kirra. Chris is excited to begin coaching again after taking time off and is looking forward to building successful crews!

Samantha Sarff Women’s Novice Assistant Coach Contact: samanthasarff@hotmail.com Rowing Experience: 4 years Education: University of Central Florida Alumni

Samantha’s rowing career began with the University of Central Florida NCAA Division I rowing team in 2006.  While at UCF, Samantha was a two-time Captain of the rowing team, Co-President of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC), and a CRCA Scholar-Athlete.  She was invited to, and attended multiple U.S. National Rowing team camps including the U.S. Pre-Elite training camp, U.S. National Team Identification camp at Princeton University, and the U.S. Freshmen Development Camp at the University of Wisconsin.  Additionally, she trained with Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia, PA and competed at U.S. Club Nationals and Canadian Henley in 2009.  Samantha graduated from UCF in December 2010 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.