Into the Great Northwest

The Orange Men and Women’s V8s and 2V8s are in Seattle this weekend to battle giants. Coach Dave Reischman’s #7 Varsity Eight takes on #1 Washington and Oxford (“ yes, that Oxford,” Reischman said in an email to SU Crew supporters. ) The JV will race the Huskies and Oregon State. Coach Kris Sanford’s unranked Varsity Eight battles #7 Washington and Oxford. The 2V goes against the Huskies and Western Washington.

Click here: http://www.suathletics.com/news/2010/4/28/MROW_0428101335.aspx
for a preview, lineups and schedule from suathletics.com.

Washington’s Men made a definitive statement last weekend with a solid win over #2 Cal and will look to make another on Saturday against Oxford and Syracuse. Oxford is likely still smarting from an upset loss to Cambridge in “The Boat Race” a few weeks back. Reischman says the Oxford crew is almost all the same oarsmen who rowed in that one.

Sanford’s varsity will be looking to show improvement against a very good Washington team and the international power of Oxford, after a third place finish at the Big East Championships last Sunday.

All SU boats go in as underdogs. All will be looking for the upset but also looking for a solid race and momentum going into the Eastern Sprints.

Live Coverage

Crew and Rowing are big in Seattle and there will be a variety of broadcast and internet coverage. Here’s a link Coach Reischman passed on from the Huskies website about that coverage and more. http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-crew/spec-rel/042610aaa.html

For those of us not in the Great Northwest, here’s something else to try. Since KJR Radio is carrying the races live, go to KJR’s website http://www.950kjr.com/mediaplayer/?station=KJR-AM&action=listenlive&channel_title= and we should be able to listen live to stroke-by-stroke coverage.

Remember, it’s Pacific Daylight Time so the races start at 2:10 Eastern time, etc.

Homecoming for Sanford, Reischman

It’s a homecoming for both coaches. Even though she grew up in the SU boathouse with her dad, Coach Bill Sanford, Kris Sanford rowed and starred for Washington during her collegiate career. For those who didn’t know it, her SU Athletics bio tells us “At Washington, she was the stroke of the 1987 and 1988 National Collegiate Championship varsity eight. Her teams won four straight Pac-10 titles.

“In 1996, Sanford was named to the University of Washington and Pac-10 All-Decade crew teams. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Washington in 1988.”
Reischman likes to describe himself as a “farm boy from Washington.” He went to high school in Arlington, a city of 11,000 or so in Snohomish County, north of Seattle. He rowed for Gonzaga in Spokane and graduated summa cum laude in 1987 with a degree in computer science. He later was director of rowing at his alma mater for five years before moving on to Oregon State and then to SU.

Both coaches are likely to spend much more time pushing their crews to be competitive than catching up with old friends this weekend.

Opening Day?

For those (including this writer) who’d wondered, “How can this be Opening Day?” the answer that it’s Opening Day for boating season in Washington. The big real estate development company Windermere has been sponsoring this event for some time, thus the Opening Day/Windermere Cup competition. It’s the first time for both SU’s men and women to be involved.

More: http://huskycrew.com/stewards_enclosure10.htm

Road Warriors, Top Opponents

The SU men, who have no home races this year,are in their second West Coast trip of the season. The varsity eight opened the season at the San Diego Crew Classic. SU’s race with #1 Washington means the Orange will have raced the top three crews in the nation this year, long before the IRA. SU was third at San Diego to #2 Cal and #3 Brown in a fairly tight final.

Orange Men Climb Back to #7 in USRowing Poll

Following its solid win over Columbia and BU, the SU Men's Varsity moved back up three spots in the US Rowing Collegiate Poll out today, climbing over Cornell, Wisconsin and Princeton. Yale won a tight one over Princeton and Cornell on Saturday. That moved the Bulldogs up to #5 in the poll. Wisconsin was idle over the weekend.

Northeastern climbed one spot to sixth after a wins over Pennsylvania on Sunday and Oregon State on Saturday. Brown held onto the #3 position (tops in the East) after an easy win over Dartmouth. Harvard stayed at #4 with a close win over Navy, Penn trailing.

Washington got all the votes for #1 after a solid win over Cal, which stays at #2. Syracuse takes on Washington and Oxford this weekend in Seattle.

Orange Moves Up One Spot in Sprints Poll

Voters in the EARC poll were less generous to SU in the poll that will determine seeding for the Eastern Sprints, moving the Orange up just one spot to #7. Wisconsin and Princeton remain ahead of Syracuse. Brown stays a solid #1 with Harvard #2.

Polls and results courtesy of row2k.com

San Diego Crew Classic Photos

Many thanks to our friend Gregg Doherty on the west coast for emailing over these images from the San Diego Crew Classic. What a beautiful day this was for racing.

Photo credits to Steve Harrison and Brad Pulverenti.

More Photos from the Conlan Cup

Many thanks to the SU parents who share their photos. Here are a few more from this past weekend's Conlan Cup. Enjoy!

Cheering Conundrum

What do you do when one of your daughters is the SU coach and another is coaching UConn? Not a problem until they race EACH OTHER. Then, you just gotta improvise. Kudos to Coach Bill Sanford for finding the middle ground.

Another Hardware Shot!

Many thanks to Tyson Bry's mother Sharon for sharing this great photo of Tyson and Ryan Patton.

Big East Photos

...some images from this morning's heats in Worcester, MA.

Along with all the great parents, it was fun to catch up with Skip Sibley and his lovely wife as well as SU Senior Associate Director of Athletics Rob Edson.

Thanks to everyone for coming out today.

Showing off the Hardware

Many thanks to SU Captain Mark Vyzas' father for sending along this great photo of the V8 holding the Conlan Cup: the reward for a race well rowed.

Very nice.

ND Dominates Big East; SU V8 Finishes Third

The Orange women came to Worcester hoping to make some noise at the Big East Championships and the Varsity Eight gave it an especially strong effort. But it was favored Notre Dame that dominated the event on Lake Quinsigamond. The Fighting Irish won all three NCAA qualifying events, the Varsity Eight, 2V8 and Varsity Fours as well as the Novice Eights and Second Varsity 4s.

Click here for full results courtesy row2k.com

SU Varsity Eight Takes Bronze in Grand Final.

The Orange Women stayed in it to the finish this time, battling with top-seed Louisville down the stretch and just missing the silver medal. Notre Dame moved away from the Cardinals in the last 500 to win by about a length, as Syracuse stayed in contact with UL, finishing just about a length back.

2V8 Edged Out – Finishes Fourth

Louisville squeaked by SU’s Second Varsity Eight at the wire to take third in the grand final. Notre Dame opened it up in the last 500 to win by open water over Georgetown. Syracuse was in third down the stretch but the Cardinals got by in the sprint – a race too close to call until the official result was announced.


V4+ Finishes Fourth

Syracuse’s Varsity 4 won its morning heat but struggled in the Grand Final, winding up fourth even with a strong last 500. Notre Dame won it easily with Georgetown second and West Virginia third. The Orange fell back in the middle of the race, but then stepped it up, getting past UConn and Villanova and moving up toward the finish. Still the SU crew was not able to get into the medals.

Novices trail in Grand Final

The Orange eight finished sixth in the Novice race. Notre Dame and UConn battled down the course, with the Fighting Irish opening it up in the last 500 meters and the Huskies taking second. Georgetown was third.

2V4 Takes Bronze

The Orange Second Varsity Four finished third behind Notre Dame and Georgetown.


The Orange Women race next on Saturday at the Windermere Cup/Opening Day races at Washington.

Five SU Boats in Grand Finals at Big East

SU’s Varsity,Second Varsity and Novice eights and Varsity Four have advanced to the grand finals at the Big East Championships. On a morning that started out looking ideal for rowing, according to SARA President Tracy Smith, rain and wind showed up before long at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.

SU’s Varsity Eight advanced with a second place finish in this morning’s qualifying heat. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame won the heat. Top-seeded Louisville won the opening heat with Georgetown second.

Click here for results from Big East.

The final is scheduled for 12:40 p.m.

2V8 , V4 qualify.

Syracuse took second, just about a length behind Louisville in its second varsity heat, qualifying for the grand final. Notre Dame won the first heat with Georgetown second.

The 2V8 final is at 12:20.

The Varsity four won its heat easily over West Virginia and Louisville to move forward. Notre Dame won its heat with Georgetown second and Villa nova third.

The Varsity four final is at noon.


Novice Eight trails but qualifies

With UConn rowing away early, Syracuse and Georgetown battled bow-to-bow for more than half the race but the Hoyas opened it up and left the Orange behind in the qualifier for novice eights. SU’s time of 8:07.5 was just fast enough to qualify for the last spot the final.

SU’s Second Varsity four had no qualifier and races in the final against Notre Dame, UConn, West Virginia and Georgetown at 11:40.

LIVE AUDIO

Click here for Big East Rowing site - live audio available.

Men's V8, JV8, 3V4+ Win in New York

Syracuse’s Men’s Varsity Eight moved out to an early lead, opened more than a length in the third 500 meters and then held off a tremendous sprint by Columbia to beat the Lions and the Boston University Terriers in Pelham, N.Y. this morning. SU went off the line at 47 strokes a minute, took a couple of seats on BU on the settle and gradually expended its lead. BU made a push at about the halfway point but the Orange responded, pushing out to a length on BU and open water on Columbia with about 800 meters left. Columbia and BU battled it out behind the Orange, with the Lions walking through in the last 200 meters and getting back into contact with the Orange as SU crossed the finish line. SU kept most of a length lead.
Click here for results from row2k.com.

Syracuse wins the Conlan cup by virtue of its victory over BU.

SU came into the race ranked eigth in the EARC poll (10 US Rowing Collegiate Poll) with BU 9th (11 US Rowing Collegiate) and Columbia 10th (13 US Rowing Collegiate).


The SU Varsity Heads West for the Opening Day Regatta next Saturday, May 1 at Washington. #1 Washington beat #2 Cal Saturday by about a length.


JV wins Convincingly

The Orange JV8 picked up its first win of the season in its first competition, pushing out to a two-seat lead over BU and Columbia just past 500 meters in and then building on it to win by open water over BU. The Terriers made a move on the Orange as they neared 500 meters to go, but SU responded and won going away. Syracuse rowed the body of the race at about 35 strokes per minute and was clocked at 40 in the closing sprint.

BU’s JV came into the race ranked sixth in the EARC poll, with SU eighth and Columbia 13th.
The JV race against Cornell and Navy last week was stopped about 500 meters in with all boats taking on water.


Frosh Eight Trails

Coach Dave Weiss’ freshmen eight finally got a chance to race, after being washed out by winds and waves at Annapolis last week. The Orange frosh fell back about half a length relatively early, as BU and Columbia fought for the lead. BU finally opened the gap against Columbia with about 500 meters to go and won by about a length. SU closed on the Lions in the sprint but couldn’t get by them. BU won it by about two seats open water over Columbia with and SU six seats behind.

BU’s frosh came into the race ranked third in the EARC poll and Columbia was 7th. SU ranked 11th.

3V4 wins

The third varsity four won the opening race of the day over BU by a length of open water.

SYRACUSE WOMEN AT BIG EAST ON SUNDAY

Coach Kris Sanford's squad heads for Worcester this weekend to try to make some noise at the Big East Championships. The Big East's recent rowing powers Notre Dame and Louisville come into Sunday's races with the highest ranking in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/US Rowing poll. The fighting Irish are just two votes out of the Top Twenty and the Cardinals two spots behind them.SU picked up one vote in the latest poll.

UL got the top Big East seed over ND for Sunday morning's heats. That means SU (the #3 seed) takes on Notre Dame along with UConn and Villanova in the morning qualifier. Syracuse will also launch a 2V8, V4 and a Novice 8. There have been some changes in the lineups over the past couple of weeks after the races in Ithaca and Boston.

On the subject of polls, SU is ranked tenth in the latest EAWRC poll that will determine the heats for the Eastern Sprints May 16 in Camden. Princeton is at number one.

Polls courtesy of row2k.com

Boatings courtesy of suathletics.com

Photo courtesy of museum4kids.net

Broadcast for Mens' Race on Saturday 4/24/10

For all you SU Men's Rowing fans, here's how to access the broadcast for this Saturday's racing.

Remember to set those alarm clocks as the figurative gun goes off for the first race at 7:20. That's 4:20 for you, Tom Evancie and Bill Bater...

click here for the webcast address -


To listen to broadcasts over the phone, dial (605) 715-4900 and enter passcode 4396868 (followed by the # key) at the prompt. When asked to record your name for the "conference," simply press the # key again to bypass the recording and immediately enter the broadcast.

Thanks to our hosts, the Columbia Lions, for putting on the 'cast, and to Joe Kieffer, SARA Man in charge of doing all things, for providing the technical info and support.

Orange Men Slip to Tenth in Coaches Poll

"Bang. Bang." Say it as fast as you can. Not fast enough. There wasn't that much time between Cornell's Big Red crossing the finish line and SU's V8 last Saturday in nearly impossible conditions in Annapolis. But that four-tenths of a second (officially) loss along with other results around the Northeast cost the Orange Men five spots in the US Rowing Collegiate poll out today. Not surprisingly, Cornell vaulted to sixth with the win. As SU Coach Dave Reischman pointed out afterward, all crews in the Goes Cup Race rowed in the same conditions.
Princeton moved up a spot to fifth and Northeastern, Yale and Wisconsin also slipped ahead of the Orange who now sit in tenth. That's just one spot ahead of Boston University and three ahead of Columbia, both of whom the Orange faces this Saturday in New York. Just in case the SU squad needs a chip on the shoulder.

Poll courtesy of row2k.com

Spring Break Flashback

Many thanks to Ken Taylor (Harrison's Dad) for sending along this photo of one of the last days of the 2010 South Carolina training trip.

Enjoy!

Orange Women V8 Third in Boston - V4B Wins

Another tough outing for the Orangewomen this morning, this time in Boston as the SU varsity eight trailed #16 Dartmouth and Radcliffe in the featured event on the Charles River. The Big Green won the varsity eight easily over Radcliffe with Syracuse about a length-and-a-half behind. Radcliffe was just outside the Top Twenty in last week's Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/US Rowing poll.

The Orange Varsity Four B boat had the best finish of the day by an SU crew, edging out Radcliffe by three-tenths of a second. And the 2V8 outrowed Dartmouth by less than half a second for second place in its race. Radcliffe won that one by several lengths.

SU trailed in both the Varsity 4 A and the 3V8 races.

Results courtesy of row2k.com

Photo Finish: Big Red Keeps Goes Cup

As if we needed another reminder that crew is not for the faint of heart - even if you're listening from hundreds of miles away - Cornell held off the SU Varsity eight by a split second early this morning to win the Goes Cup for the second year in a row. The official time posted said it was less than half a second and Navy Associate Head Coach Rob Friedrich said in that posting it was even closer. Navy trailed a couple of lengths behind.

Friedrich described the conditions in Annapolis as marginal. In fact they were so bad that the referee canceled the JV race about 500 meters in with crews taking on water and the freshmen never got to race.

The Orange came into the race ranked fifth in the US Rowing Collegiate Poll with Cornell at #10.
No doubt there will be a change next week but the Orange and Big Red will see each other again at the Eastern Sprints and Head Coach Dave Reischman has said all along that the team shoots for the Sprints and the IRA.

Just a week or so ago, Reischman said in an email to SU Crew supporters, "It is going to be an interesting Sprints this year with 8 or 9 crews in the hunt for medals." There was more proof of that today.

In addition to Cornell's edging of #5 Syracuse, #3 Brown had to row a record time to beat #8 Northeastern by just over a second. #9 Boston University edged #14 Dartmouth by less than a second. #7 Yale outrowed #12 Columbia by about half a length in Philadelphia with Penn trailing. And #6 Princeton was in contact with #4 Harvard more than halfway through when the Tigers lost their rudder mechanism. The Princeton bow hit the Crimson stern and broke off, forcing the Tigers to stop rowing, according to a post on row2k.com by MIT's Coach Tony Kilbridge. MIT was well back in the race and finished second.

The Orange travels to the New York City area next to take on Columbia and BU on Saturday.

Results courtesy of row2k.com

The Latest from Annapolis

From Coach David Reischman:

No official word on spectating for tomorrow's races. They are still negotiating to allow spectators access over private property. If you are viewing the races you should show up at the boathouse at 6 am and they will hand out directions for viewing.

Goes Cup Update

From Coach David Reischman:

If you are planning on attending the racing in Annapolis this weekend you need to know that there was a drastic change in the weather forecast this afternoon. The wind will be out of the WNW and quite strong. This may necessitate a course change from the course originally announced. This will affect anyone trying to view the racing and the previous directions I sent you will not work. It is unknown at this time what arrangements there will be for spectators watching the racing.

The plan is to make a decision on the course by Friday evening. I will try to get an email out Friday night that will have any course change/spectator viewing information I can get. If you hear nothing from me your best bet is to show up at the Naval Academy about 45' before the racing and the Navy staff said they would try to have information on race viewing available.

Stay tuned for additional details....

SU Men Hold Five Spot in US Rowing Poll

The top five remain the same for the third straight week in the USRowing/Collegiate Poll with the Orange Varsity still at number five. The Washington Huskies held onto number one with 13 first place votes. They won easily over Washington State and Oregon State last weekend. Cal is second with three first-places votes. Brown and Harvard are at three and four. Brown Edged Harvard by a second last Saturday in Providence.

The Orange is back in action this weekend for the first time since the San Diego Crew Classic, taking on #10 Cornell and #16 Navy for the Goes Trophy at Annapolis. Cornell swept Georgetown and George Washington last weekend at the George Washington Invitational.
Navy defeated MIT and UC San Diego in its competition at the George Washington Invitational. The Big Red and Middies did not face each other.

Polls, Washington and Brown/Harvard results courtesy of row2k.com.

Goes Cup Information

The SU Men will travel to Annapolis to take on Navy and Cornell for the Goes Cup Trophy. Logistics for this race are a bit tricky. Here's the word from Coach Dave Reischman:

If you have never been to race at the Naval Academy you need to be aware that there are security measures in place for entering the Naval Academy grounds. YOU MUST SHOW A PHOTO ID.

In addition, this year Navy is remodeling their boathouse and they have changed the race course due to the opening day of the rockfish season. We are going to use what they call the “Upper Course.” This course is considered by visiting coaches to be the fairest option available but it makes it more difficult on spectators.

The race schedule for this Saturday, April 17, is as follows:

6:45 am Varsity

7:00 am Junior Varsity

7:15 am Freshman

You will need two sets of directions: One to the Naval Academy where we will be launching from and one to view the racing. The spectator viewing is on a private estate by the finishing line. EVERYONE NEEDS TO RESPECT THAT THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY. Be careful with your parking, be quiet, and pick up trash.

Directions for viewing are attached along with a map of the race course, and a parking map for the Naval Academy Grounds. (please click on the images below to enlarge)

Listed below are recommended directions from the Naval Academy Coaching Staff to enter the Academy grounds.

Alumni/Parent’s Directions to Naval Academy

As you approach Baltimore, take 695 or 895 to Route 97 South towards Annapolis.
Take 97 South all the way to Route 50 East towards Annapolis.
Once you get onto Route 50, you are within 10 minutes of campus.
Take Exit 24 for Rowe Blvd and stay to the right on exit ramp.
After passing Navy Stadium on right, you will make a left turn on Taylor Avenue.
At stop sign, you will make a right onto Route 450 (Annapolis St.)
At your second traffic light, turn right into the Naval Academy and another immediate right into a parking lot near the practice baseball field. You can park there and walk down the hill and show a photo ID at the gate. From there continue down the road and make a left into the field where the jet airplanes are on display.

Race Call-in Information - April 17, 2010

The Women's races against Radcliffe and Dartmouth this weekend (Saturday, April 17) will be broadcast LIVE.

Here is the dial-in information:

(605) 715-4900 195587# - you can bypass announcing your name by pressing #

Or...listen via the internet by clicking here.

The race schedule is as follows:

9:48 - 1V

10:12 - 2V

10:36 - V4A

11:00 - 3V

11:24 - V4B

SU Women Racing in Boston This Weekend

The SU Women travel to Boston this Saturday (April 17) to take on Radcliffe and Dartmouth for the O'Leary Cup. Race times for Saturday morning are below.

9:48 - 1V
10:12 - 2V
10:36 - V4A
11:00 - 3V
11:24 - V4B

Spectators can watch the last 750 meters from the finish line which is located slightly downstream from the BU Boathouse and directly across the street from the Hyatt Hotel on Memorial Drive (Cambridge).

Northeastern wins in Philly; SU V8 Third

A tough Saturday morning in Philadelphia for the SU Women. The Northeastern Huskies took the Varsity eight race and with it the Orange Challenge Cup, with Penn rowing through Syracuse in the last 500 meters to take second place.

SU’s Third Varsity Eight was second in its race, holding off Northeastern down the stretch in a race Penn won by open water.


The Quakers won the 2V and Varsity 4-A and Northeastern was first in the V4-B.
SU trailed in all three races.

Penn’s on-line announcer described it as a beautiful but blustery day on the Schuylkill River with a quartering tail wind. That changed later to a head wind.

Northeastern took the early lead in the Varsity Eight race with SU staying in contact through the halfway point and holding a bow-to-stern lead on Penn.

But as the Huskies moved to an open water lead with about 650 meters left, Penn began moving on Syracuse. The Quakers pulled even and then moved through the Orange and crossed the finish line about half a length ahead.

Times here courtesy of row2k.com.

Syracuse races next Saturday (April 17) in Boston – the Charles River Challenge/O’Leary Cup with Dartmouth and Radcliffe the opponents.

Wonder Twin Powers

SU Varsity Rowers Naomi (right) and Mary (left) Carlson were featured in The Fairbanks Daily News. Check it out!

(thanks to SU for letting us use these photos)

Polls: Men Stay 5th; Women Get a Vote

The new US Rowing Collegiate Poll out today has the SU men's varsity holding the number five spot for the second week in a row. The top five stayed the same, Washington, Cal, Brown, Harvard and Syracuse, while Yale jumped to number six after a close loss to Brown over the weekend.
SU takes on Cornell (#9) and Navy (#14) next in the Goes Trophy race at Annapolis, April 17.

The Orange women again picked up a single vote in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/US Rowing poll after a disappointing weekend that saw them trail badly behind Yale and Cornell on Friday before beating Buffalo and coming up just short against Gonzaga on Saturday.
Interestingly, UB picked up ten votes this week and Cornell jumped to just outside the Top 20 with 49 votes. In spite of beating Michigan State, which held onto the #7 ranking, Yale dropped to #4, behind Virginia, Cal and Stanford.

SU's women will be in Philadelphia this weekend taking on Penn (36 votes) and Northeastern (7 votes).

POLLS AND RESULTS COURTESY OF row2k.com

Call-in Info and Web Link for Live Race Broadcasts

Alums and friends who want to listen to the Women's races against Penn & Northeastern this weekend LIVE can do so by phone or online.

Here is the access info:

PHONE:
(605) 715-4900 enter passcode: 575719 followed by #

or via internet by clicking here

Weekend Racing Schedule - SU Women

The SU Women will be racing Penn and Northeastern in Philly this weekend and will be launching from the canoe club. Below is the weekend race schedule. Come on out for the races!

Schedule:
8am Cox Meeting Upenn Boathouse
9:30am Women's 3V 8+
9:50am Women's Varsity 8+
10:10am Women's 2nd Varsity 8+
10:30am Women's A 4+
10:50am Women's B 4+

SU Women's V8 Takes One of Three

The SU Women raced three times in two days in Ithaca this weekend with the Varsity Eight winning one race and just falling short in another. The Orange took the University of Buffalo by about a length on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon they fell to Gonzaga by about half a length.

On Friday afternoon the Orange varsity eight finished well behind top-ranked Yale which edged Cornell by about half a length in spite of an accident during the race.

Yale’s athletics website described it this way “Yale’s oars side-swiped a bridge near the 1,000-meter mark forcing stroke Taylor Ritzel to have to stop rowing. The Bulldogs had an open-water lead at the time and still managed to cruise to a 2.5-second victory over second-place Cornell.”

All other Orange boats trailed in their events on Cayuga Lake with the Second Varsity Eight losing a heartbreaker to Gonzaga by one-tenth of a second to end the weekend.

Results courtesy of row2k.com

Yale, Cornell, Syracuse: http://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=6755468&cat=1

Syracuse, UB http://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=4585754&cat=1

Gonzaga, Syracuse http://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=384873&cat=1


Coverage from suathletics.com: http://www.suathletics.com/news/2010/4/3/WROW_0403104803.aspx


SU races again next Saturday, April 10 in Philadelphia for the Orange Cup against Northeastern and Penn.

THE NEW ORANGE OAR IS UP

The April 2010 edition of The Orange Oar is now on line at the SARA web page.
It features race reports on the women’s opener against Boston University and the men’s performance at the San Diego Crew Classic as well as features on adaptive rowing by Tom Darling, Joe Paduda’s first-person take on the C.R.A.S.H. B.s, the Carlson Twins’ Star Spangled singing in the Carrier Dome, as always – Backsplash - news of our alumni that includes plans for a 1970 era reunion this fall, a two-page spread on our spring membership drive and of course a letter from the president. Just click here.

Men Ranked #5 - "That's Nice, But..."

Dave Reischman is driving the launch out onto Onondaga Lake. I’m sitting on his left and it seems as good a time as any to ask the question he knows I have to ask – “What about your varsity being ranked number five in the first US Rowing poll?” He’s tempted to be facetious but Reischman gathers up an answer that sounds standard but that also rings true – because it is.

“Our thought is it’s nice to be recognized for the hard work you put in and I think having a Varsity Eight ranked fifth is truly something our whole program takes pride in,” he tells me. “It’s not going to happen without a JV and a 3V pushing them up. But it was based off one race early in the season and there’s a lot of crews that have yet to race so I imagine there’ll be lots of changes in the polls as we go through racing season.”

It was two races – the qualifying heat at the San Diego Crew Classic the previous Saturday and the Copley Cup final on Sunday when the Orange finished third to Cal (#2) and Brown (#4) but Reischman counts the weekend’s performance as one.

Now on this late Thursday afternoon he has his team in five four-oared shells. The guys who rowed in the eight in San Diego are in straight fours but not divided into stern four and bow four.

Mike Gennaro strokes one, with Chris Lutz, Tyson Bry and Dan Berry

Ryan Patton strokes the other, with Vince Berry, Dan Turner and Mike Dietrich.

“I think the straight four has a little lighter touch to it,” Reischman tells me. “I think sometimes it’s closer in speed to the eight in terms of how you get it moving. The four with is a little sluggish. I think there’s a better transfer in a straight four.”

The bowman steers with his foot.

“I think it’s all the pairs work we do too. If you’re rowing a pair and making it go straight you have to know how to apply power in a manner that makes it go straight.”

It is a gorgeous day – 75 degrees and sunny – with a bit of a cross-wind. Just two weeks ago, the coach notes, his crew had ice on their oars. Ah, Syracuse in spring!

Cornell and Navy at Annapolis are more than two weeks away and the coach has pointed out all along that his lineups are not set in stone. Sure, winning “regular season” races is nice but,”… our focus is on the Sprints and the IRAs and doing whatever we need go do on a daily basis to get ready for that.”

What he is doing today is a workout of an hour or so that will wrap up with four full out four minute pieces at 30 strokes-per-minute – the five boats side-by-side.

I had watched the team arrive on the bus before practice. The walked upstairs into the boathouse serious-faced and nearly silent and came down the same way, carrying out their oars and the shells and launching – all business.

“It’s really serious the second you get hands on,” Dan Berry told me later. “The rest of the time if you take it too serious you get annoyed, burned out – you get mad at each other so we keep it pretty loose except the times we’re on the water and as you can tell it gets pretty heated out there at times.”

Now, after some warm-up pieces at 26 and 28 and 30, the business gets really serious.
With graduate assistant Joe DeLeo and volunteer assistant Tyler Page in a launch on one side and Reischman on the other the shells line up on the Solvay side of Onondaga Lake.

Across the lake on the old IRA course we can see Coach Dave Weiss putting two boats of freshman through their paces.



“Sit ready,” Reischman calls through his old school megaphone. “Paddle.” Three strokes in they go to full power and the two straight fours pull ahead, battling one another. Reischman points out that they’re not carrying the weight of a coxswain.

“Good strong solid rhythm stroke after stroke,” he calls out to them. "Good power! Leg drive! Leg drive! Feel the surge, now. Feel the surge!”

When one boat pulls ahead he challenges the other. “All right Ryan Patton, are you gonna stay with them are you gonna stay with them?” The crew responds.

“Good solid power now! Legs together! One push! One push! Legs and body! Send it! Send it!”

Under 50 strokes to go and the crews battle. “A minute and a half - who’s going to press ahead? Be stubborn now! Be determined! Can you function when the heat’s on?
Here we go, Mike Dietrich. They’ve got a seat on you!”

They fight on until Reischman calls out “paddle.”

He drives over to get DeLeo and Page’s take on the boats closer to them. He switches a couple of oarsmen from shell to shell. “I think we have some talent in the JV,” he tells me. He’s figuring out who’ll be in that eight and whether any of them should move up to the Varsity boat.

The crews turn around facing toward the boat house. And they battle again. And a third time and a fourth. Reischman is into it. He admits to getting a little intense. Nobody complains. And then they are finished for the day.

“Good work guys,” the coach tells them. “Let’s take it home.”

“It looks like you guys are working hard,” I say later to Dan Berry’s twin brother Vince.
“We absolutely are,” he replies. “We just want to focus on getting better and getting progressively faster instead of just kind of settling and saying yeah we’re pretty good now we want to work on getting better.”

“If we settle for what we have now everybody’s going to sneak up on us like we did on some crews last year,” brother Dan adds. “We snuck up on Cornell through the IRA last year after they just spanked us when they were here. So if we settle now there’s no doubt that somebody like BU is gonna come up and bite us…”

The Goes Cup race is 16 days away. The Eastern Sprints – 45. 62 days to the IRA.