Women Head to the BIG EAST

story courtesy of SU Athletics

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The Syracuse University women’s rowing team will descend on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., for the 2011 BIG EAST Rowing Championship on Sunday, May 1. Preliminary races begin at 8 a.m. Eastern time, with the first final to start at 10:50 a.m. This year marks the seventh annual BIG EAST Rowing Championship but will be the 11th time the BIG EAST will crown a conference champion. The championship was formerly referred to as a “challenge” from 2001-2004.Notre Dame has claimed each of last seven titles dating back to 2004.

Syracuse is the third-seeded varsity eight. The crew has spent much of its season in Boston, Mass., competing there four times this spring. The Orange faces Notre Dame, West Virginia and Connecticut in its preliminary heat.

The Orange also has the second-seeded third varsity eight, a crew that defeated Boston University on March 26. SU meets Notre Dame and Rutgers in its preliminary heat.

SU’s second varsity eight and varsity four will also be in action. The 2V8 will do battle with Louisville, Rutgers and Villanova and the V4 will square off against Notre Dame, Rutgers and West Virginia.

The Orange are the only other team besides Notre Dame to claim a title, winning the BIG EAST Challenge three-straight times from 2001-2003.

(Schedule is an image below. Please click on the image for a large-size, printable format.)

Lineups:

1V8
C – Allison Todd
S – Emma Karpowicz
7 – Miranda Williams
6 – Chelsea MacPherson
5 – Rebecca Soja
4 – Tiffany Macon
3 – Carmen Fallia
2 – Macey Miller
B – Maggie McCrudden

2V8
C – Mikela Almeida
S – Emily Moomey
7 – Brandis Arcadia
6 – Kerriann Miller
5 – Annie Cowuwenhoven
4 – Rachel Ogundrian
3 – Gina Biascochea
2 – Ali Sayer
B – Kate Severino

V4+
C – Kristina Herb
S – Mary Carlson
3 – Ciara Shaenauer
2 – Jaque Lee
B – Meryl Engler

3V8
C – Sam Hart
S – Erika Merola
7 – Ashley Marsh
6 – Miranda Bull
5 – Laura Adams
4 – Kristin Hanifin
3 – Amanda Quick
2 – Mary Wilson
B –Sabrina Keller

Get Your SU Rowing Gear Now

The Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association (SARA) in cooperation with Boathouse Sports, has created an exclusive website for Syracuse University Rowing, featuring only SU Rowing clothing.


As with the prior offering last fall, this online store will be “open” for a two to three week period to batch the order and then Boathouse Sports will have one production run of the Syracuse gear. Each transaction is directly between you and Boathouse Sports. They will take payment and ship it directly to your address. The one catch is that the combined order will need to be sizable to make it profitable for Boathouse Sports, if not they will delay or cancel the order until we have a critical mass. SARA Treasurer Joe Kieffer, who has spearheaded this initiative for SARA, will monitor the order size and let everyone know if there is an issue.

Finally, we are also limited to 10 items per opening of a store. We have a nice selection of men’s and women’s jackets, polo shirts, a cap, non-hooded sweatshirt, shirts, and rowing gear. Also, SARA receives 15% of all orders. These funds will help SARA support events that we host at the various regattas. We are shooting for the site to close May 16, 2011 so all orders need to be placed by then. Gear should be shipped approximately two weeks after the store closes.

SARA Treasurer Joe Kieffer is available to answer any questions: jkieffer@email.com

See the Syracuse Crew store and order here - http://syracusecrew.boathousegear.com/

BU Better on this Blustery Day

The conditions were “challenging,” the racing was close and the results were not exactly what the Orange had been hoping for. On a blustery Good Friday afternoon, Boston University’s Varsity eight won the Conlan Cup for the first time in six years and completed a three-race sweep of Syracuse and Columbia. In the process, the Terriers also regained the Lusin Cup from the Lions.

Racing was moved up to Friday afternoon because of strong winds forecast for all of Saturday, but the water on Onondaga Lake was barely rowable, with a cross-tail wind of 10-15 mph and the rolling surface splashing against the outriggers.

The eighth-ranked Orange grabbed the lead at the start, churning through the rolling water on the inside lane, over-stroking BU in the center and Columbia on the outside.
The SU boat gained about a length but used a lot of energy fighting through the rough water.

“I thought BU rowed a little bit more intelligently in the first 1,000 meters,” SU Head Coach Dave Reischman said.

“BU seemed to save more energy coming into the second part of the race, “SU’s seven-oar Chris Lutz said.

When the crews hit the calmer stretch of the channel - just about at the halfway point - the Terriers made their move and rowed back even in a matter of seconds. The Orange fought to stay up with them, but BU’s sixth-ranked crew edged out to a couple of seats – then half a length, as #12 Columbia fell off the pace.

Down the course they came, passing the SU boathouse and the 500-meters to go mark, now in smooth water. Syracuse cranked up the stroke. BU responded. Syracuse went up again. BU held its lead. The flag went up. SU went down.

The Terrier’s stroke Todd Sukolsky punched the air in triumph. A cry of frustration rang out from the Syracuse shell.

“I thought our guys raced a great race,” Reischman said. “We worked hard. I can’t fault the effort.”

BU 5:46.7
SU 5:48.5
Columbia 5:55.5

SU-BU have developed a terrific rivalry, with SU edging the Terriers for a spot in the IRA Grand Final last June. They expect to battle again at the Eastern Sprints in three weeks.

“We came out on the short end,” sophomore bowman Tyler Toporowksi said. “But we’re looking forward to seeing them again soon.

“My guys are pretty fired up right now,” Reischman said. “We’ve got three weeks. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Interviews here courtesy suathletics.com

JV

The Terriers JV had used a similar strategy to win its race. Syracuse grabbed the lead, rowing on the outside as BU waited for the calmer water to make its move. Once BU had the lead it would not give it up. Syracuse battled to stay in contact as Columbia fell behind, but the Orange fell short by about a length.

BU 5:58.3
SU 6:01.7
Columbia 6:13.9



Freshmen

BU’s highly-touted freshmen showed their strength in the opening race of the afternoon, leading wire-to-wire. The Terriers took Columbia by a couple of lengths of open water, with the Syracuse frosh close to two lengths farther back.

BU 5:52.7
Columbia 6:02.9
SU 6:08.2


The closing race of the day proved the most adventuresome. BU’s second freshman eight took on an SU boat that included Jason Zajdel rowing in his second race in about an hour, after competing with the first frosh. The slop was the heaviest it had been all day and once the race got underway, BU soon found its bow under water and Referee Larry Lazslo stopped the race.

The crews made their way into the docks, dumped the water out and went back and battled over 1,000 meter course in the channel. BU wound up taking it by just over a length.

BU 2:52.4
SU 2:57.1

More photos here courtesy of suathletics.com

Justin Stangel's race report

Justin was kind enough to send us an update on the racing so far and his plans for this afternoon.

It as has been a rough two months with work (about 40hrs a week) and training (plenty, trust me) so I haven't been able to keep in touch with friends/family/alums as much as I would like.

This morning was a lot different conditions from what we saw yesterday. After going from survival mode in the time trial and keeping it clean in a building tail, we had a slight cross headwind this morning and flat water. With only 10 boats it was two heats of 5 seeded from yesterdays time trial, top 3 go to the A final tonight. With a most of the crews coming from OKC, where I am currently training, we all kind of knew how each other likes to go down but still racing is racing... never underestimate your opponent.

We had a good clean start and got into a good rhythm early after the shift to race pace. From about 500 down we had about 1/2 to 3/4 length lead on the field and at 1000 we took a move to open a little water between us and 2nd and 3rd. From this point it was all about efficiency in the rowing that we really focus on the whole race, but with this being the heat it was about getting the final quickly but trying not to over exert yourself. Tom and I were both happy with the race and how its sets us up for tonight. The final goes off at 5:48 EDT tonight and can be watched live here: http://rowing.teamusa.org/live

The final tonight we definitely be tight from what the heats looked like, all the qualifying crews had a good margin over 4th and were all bunched together.

From here we are just staying off our feet and coming up with our game plan and getting ready to execute it. Conditions should be similar with a cross headwind but it is supposed to shift from NE to SE and will probably be nice and wet. After training in OKC wind does not effect us and we have trained in all conditions so nothing is new. I am really looking forward to some good hard racing tonight and excited to see all the hours of training come through.

Thats about it for now, good luck to all Cuse crews today I will try to keep up with results as best I can but will definitely check once I am done.

Was hoping to try and make it up tomorrow morning but I understand the move. Great to see the Goes Cup and the Stagg Trophy!! The Navy/Cornell duel was always the best of the duel season and I am excited to see it back in the Orange boathouse.

Stangel wins heat in speed orders

Just about the time you were headed to the office/school/grabbing that second cup of coffee, SU's own Justin Stangel was crossing the finish line in Mercer NJ. Stangel and his pair partner Tom Peszek won their heat, and advance to the pair finals this afternoon at 5:48 (or so).

Stangel and Peszek had the fastest time of the two heats, winning their's by about 1.4 seconds.

We'll keep you posted on Justin's progress - he'll be back on the water at just about the same time his alma mater will be facing off against BU and Columbia back home on Onondaga.

SU Alum shines at speed orders

SU's own Justin Stangel and his partner rowed to a second-best finish in this am's time trials, finishing a scant 0.72 seconds behind another US Training Center pair.

Stangel, who represented the US in the pair with in New Zealand in 2010, will be moving on to the heats this afternoon, looking for a place in the "A' finals Saturday. He and his partner will be in Lane 3 in the 6:29 pm (eastern) race

Kudos to Justin, and we'll keep you apprised of his SUccess!

SATURDAY RACES RESCHEDULED!

from Coach Dave Reischman:

Due to a very uncooperative weather forecast for all day Saturday, we have moved the racing for this weekend to Friday, April 22nd at 4 pm. I apologize to anyone this inconveniences—the decision was made in the interest of safety and fairness to the participants. After consultation with Mr. Peter, the boat dedication scheduled for after the racing will be rescheduled for our home race on May 22nd. We will send out any changes to the radio broadcast of the racing as soon as we have it available.

400 pm Frosh eight

420 pm 2nd varsity Eight

440 pm Varsity Eight

500 pm Third Varsity Fours

520 pm 2nd Frosh Eight

UPDATED BROADCAST INFORMATION IS INCLUDED IN THE IMAGE.
Click on the flyer for a full-size, printable version.

The Goes Cup Trophy - a blast from the past

Many thanks to Rob Heinstein ('89) for these photographs. Rob was the coxswain of this 1988 varsity boat that won the Goes Trophy on Navy's home turf. This was the first time that the Orange had had possession of the trophy since the late 1970s.

1988 Varsity 8: Cox – Rob Heinstein; Stroke – Rich McNamara; 7 – Paul Wolfensberger; 6 – Bob Price; 5 - Allan Green; 4 – Jeff Pesot; 3 – Don Smith; 2 – Paul Schmidt; Bow – Dirk Stribney

story courtesy of SU Athletics...
photos are from Tracy Smith

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Syracuse University women’s rowing squad wrapped up action in Boston today with three third place and one fourth-place finish on the waters on the historic Charles River. The Orange varsity eight, second varsity eight, varsity four and second varsity four were in action against Boston, Louisville and Minnesota.

SU’s varsity eight, second varsity eight and second varsity four all finished third. The varsity four placed fourth.

Syracuse’s varsity eight completed the 2,000-meter course in 7:32.0, 10 seconds behind winner Louisville. The Orange second varsity eight posted a time of 7:54.14. Minnesota won the 2V8 race in 7:41.00. SU’s second varsity crossed the finish line in 10:15.0. Ohio State won the race with a time of 8:54.0.

The Orange varsity four recorded a time of 10:07.0. Boston was first with a time of 9:03.0.

CLICK HERE FOR A SLEW OF PHOTOS....

Syracuse returns to the waters at the BIG EAST Championship on Sunday, May 1 in West Windsor, N.J.

Orange Men Bring Goes Trophy Back to Syracuse

Under overcast skies with sporadic rain, the Syracuse Varsity Eight out-rowed Cornell and Navy this morning, to win the Goes Trophy for the first time in three years, and keep the Big Red from a “threepeat.”

“It was getting a little too much of a Red tinge to it,” SU Head Coach Dave Reischman smiled after the race. "We'd like to give it a little more Orange tinge for awhile."

Syracuse also won the Stagg Trophy for total points. The Orange and Midshipmen tied, with Navy winning the freshman and JV eights, but the SU win in the varsity race breaks the tie.

SU took second in the freshman and JV races.



Syracuse raced in the inside lane of the Cayuga Lake Inlet, with the home-standing Big Red in lane two and Navy on the outside. All three crews got off to a solid start, but rowing at 38 strokes per minute, higher than planned, Syracuse had edged in front of Cornell at 37 by 500 meters in.

Syracuse opened the lead to about a length by the halfway point, as Navy fell about the same distance behind Cornell. Rowing with the current and a fairly brisk tailwind, Syracuse kept up the pace and while perhaps not as smoothly as Coach Reischman might have liked, the Orange held off Cornell’s effort to catch up in the stretch.

12th-ranked SU held off the 9th ranked Big Red by about a length, and #13 Navy finished third.

Click here for results courtesy of row2k.com

There was no big celebration by the Orange, once the boat crossed the finish line. Coach Reischman caught up with his crew on the water, and after quick congratulations they began going over how to get better.

“It's good to have the win,” senior stroke and co-captain Mike Gennaro said. But the Orange will see Cornell and Navy again at the Eastern Sprints.

"We know we've still got a lot of work to do, and Cornell's got a lot of work to do and so does Navy." The goal, as always is for the Orange to hit its peak at the IRA.

Interviews with Coach Reischman, Coxswain Ken Marfilius and Mike Gennaro here courtesy of suathletics.com. Look on the right side of the screen.

The next crews SU will see are fifth-ranked Boston University and #11 Columbia. BU clobbered Dartmouth and Rutgers today in New Jersey, while Columbia trailed badly against #10 Yale and #16 Penn, in Connecticut.

Syracuse, BU and Columbia go at it at Syracuse next Saturday morning.

“A Racing Start” – 2011 SARA Men’s Rowing Endowment Campaign

The flag has dropped and the crews are off, at 250 down we have a dead heat between the ’80-’84 and ’65-’69 class years in dollars and ’80 – ’84 has nosed ahead of the pack in number of participants.

Overall we have $1,750 in the first 10 days with 10 individuals bringing out their check books (Thank you ---Paul Blacharski, Ken Borst, Paul Dudzick, Hugh Duffy, David Fish, Rob Heinstein, Adlai Hurt, Charlie Mills, Joe Paduda, and John Thomas).

While seven class years are quickly off the line, we still have six class years sitting at the stake boat – time to get your oar in the water!

We will be providing real time race results every 10 days to the alumni population via face book, the SARA blog or email. Remember SU racing shirts are at stake for class years with the greatest number of contributors and class years with the greatest dollar contributions. Greater than $1,000 automatically get you a betting shirt.

You can contribute the SARA Men’s Rowing Endowment on line at www.cnycf.org/sara. All donations to the SARA Endowment are tax deductable.

Goes Cup Schedule and Race Broadcast Info.

The 2011 Goes Cup Schedule is below. Please click on the image on the left for a printable information sheet. Below is the dial-in for live race coverage. Play-by-play will be provided by Orange Oar Editor and announcer extraordinnaire John Nicholson.

Via Phone / Conference Line :

(712) 432-1496 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 6029 # - you can bypass announcing your name by pressing #

This race will not be available through internet channels.

Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association (SARA) is excited to provide live audio broadcasting of Men’s and Women’s races. Our announcers will be following the races in the chase launches, providing a stroke by stroke account of the races – from the start until the finish. Below are the details and Saturday’s regatta schedule.

Saturday’s Event – (April 16)

Race Schedule:

8:35 am 3V8 9:10 am 1F8 9:45 am V8 10:20 am 2V8 10:55 am 2F8

SU Women Back in Boston This Weekend

SU Women’s Rowing

Syracuse vs Harvard, Dartmouth and Louisville – Charles River, Cambridge, MA

Saturday, April 16 & Sunday, April 17, 2011

Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association (SARA) is excited to provide live audio broadcasting of Men’s and Women’s races. Our announcers will be following the races in the chase launches, providing a stroke by stroke account of the races – from the start until the finish. Below are the details and this weekend’s regatta schedule.

Via Phone / Conference Line:
(712) 432-1496 4861# - you can bypass announcing your name by pressing #

Via Internet:
No internet connection

Race Schedule:
Saturday, April 16th

Radcliffe - Syracuse - Dartmouth - Minn.

7:24 - 3V8
8:00 - V4B
8:36 - V4A
9:12 - 2V8
9:48 - 1V8

Sunday, April 17th

Race Series #1 - Ohio State vs the top two teams (based on the order of finish of the 1V race) of the Rad-Syr-Dart
race and the top team of the BU - NU race
Race Series #2 - Minn and Louisville vs the 3rd place team of the R-S-D race and the 2nd place team
of the BU - NU race

Race times:
Series #1
7:48 - V4A (can include V4B boats)
8:12 - 3V8
8:36 - 2V8
9:00 - 1V8

Series #2
8:00 - V4A (can include V4B boats)
8:24 - 3V8
8:48 - 2V8
9:12 - 1V8

Women's V8: Edging Forward, Still Third

The SU women's crews' learning process continued this morning in the Orange Cup races on the Charles River, as the Orange women finished third in the varsity eight race with #19 Penn and Northeastern.

SU wound up trailing by open water at the finish as the Quakers pulled away from the Huskies by almost a length at the finish after leading by just two seats with 500 meters to go. Syracuse stayed in shouting distance this time, something the Orange was not able to do a week earlier against Cornell and Yale.

Varsity: Penn 6:54.7, Northeastern 6:57.5, Syracuse 7:07.3

The second varsity also was third with Penn taking Northeastern by a length or so and the Orange a couple of lengths behind the Huskies.

2nd Varsity: Penn 7:07.3, Northeastern 7:11.9, Syracuse 7:20.8

Click here for lineups courtesy of suathletics.com

Lower Boats Trail

In the third varsity eights Syracuse was in the fight early, behind Northeastern but leading Penn. But the Quakers moved through the Orange about 500 meters in and went after the Huskies. They got close, but when it came to the sprint Northeastern pulled away.

The Orange wound up a couple of lengths of open water behind.

3rd Varsity: Northeastern, 7:30.6, Penn 7:36.6, Syracuse 7:53.9

In the varsity fours it would up being a near-photo finish between Northeastern and Penn A, with the Huskies taking it. Penn B was third with the Orange about a length-and-a-half behind in fourth.

Varsity 4: Northeastern 8:03.4, Penn A 8:05.2, Penn B 8:18.7, Syracuse 8:36.2

Photo by Tom Darling '81

Results courtesy of gonu.com (Northeastern U Sports)c/em>

LIVE Video Broadcast of the SU/Penn/NU V8 Race on Saturday

Many thanks to Northeastern University for providing LIVE video coverage of the SU Women's V8 race in Boston this weekend.

Here's the note from NU with the details:

Northeastern University Athletics will be providing a live video stream of some of the rowing races taking place on the Charles river this Saturday, April 9. The races that will be covered are:

9:00am – Women's Rowing NU vs. Penn, Syracuse – Varsity 8 9:48am - Men's Rowing- NU vs. BU – Varsity 8

Fans can access the free video+commentary feeds on our website: http://www.gonu.tv/

Please feel free to spread the information to your fans, athletes and families. As a sample of what we plan to do, here is an archive copy of our live video stream of last year's Smith Cup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwAOyGMOcfw

If weather conditions prevent us from providing the live video feeds, I'll be sure to let you know.

Orangewomen Work on Establishing a Rhythm

story courtesy of SU Athletics

In the week leading up to last week's race with Yale and Cornell, the Syracuse women's rowing team knew it would have to go "crazy" in the water to contend. Although the team did just that, it learned that without a consistent rhythm, it can't move a boat fast enough. "You can't race for seven minutes without a rhythm," said first-year SU head coach Justin Moore. "Yale and Cornell had it."

The team heads to Boston this weekend for the Orange Challenge Cup. It will race against Northeastern and Pennsylvania, hoping to find its rhythm. Last weekend, the Orange learned that rhythm can mean everything in a race. In a boat that only includes four or eight rowers, if one rower is not able to pull her weight and maintain the ideal rhythm, the overall pace will be thrown off. The team is now focusing on developing this consistency at practice, looking to fix what went wrong last week. Against Yale and Cornell, the Orange finished in third place in all five races. And the thing that Yale and Cornell had, that the Orange lacked, was that consistent rhythm in the water, Moore said. So the Orange took to the water for practice this week, hoping to fix that.

The team switched the makeup of each of its five boats a few times to get the right mix in each one. The team concluded that no changes had to be made, but that tempo was still the key focus, said graduate rower Chelsea Macpherson. With such a young team, developing rhythm can be difficult and time-consuming, and a process that can take months. It's a task that requires all boat members' attention and effort for success to be realized, Macpherson said. And with a developing team, it's not the easiest of tasks. "It's going to be hard to get that rhythm," Macpherson said. "You need the whole boat's effort. Every single person has to be locked in." Macpherson has rowed for the Orange since 2006 and has seen the program change during her time at Syracuse.

With a new coach in Moore this year, coupled with the young makeup of the team, she realized from the start that this year would bring new challenges. Still, although concrete results on the water may not be at the level they were at a few years ago, Macpherson feels a new start was just what the program needed. "The old coach tried to work hard," Macpherson said. "But the message wasn't working for our team." So the program was revamped, and Moore came in with impressive credentials as a six-time NCAA Division III champion in 11 years as head coach at Williams College. Still, making a mark on a program can take a while, especially at the college level. When Moore started at Syracuse last summer, the team was not performing at the necessary level.

The team's indoor raw scores — including statistics that don't need to be measured on the water, such as how hard the team pulled — were not as good as they needed to be, Macpherson said. So Moore immediately put a premium on being in shape, Macpherson said. "Coach Moore has a different mindset," Macpherson said. "Every single practice, we're improving our fitness." Because of that, rowers like Macpherson and junior Tiffany Macon feel the team can still progress to the point where it can contend at the Big East championships. But that rhythm must be improved in order to contend. "We understand exactly where we need to fix problems," Macon said. "We have to come off the line fast and find sprints at the end."

Moore knows pure talent is not enough to win races. Work ethic pays dividends as well, but not just over a few weeks or even months. If the team continues to put in the amount of work it has so far this season, results will come, Moore said. Results to rival those of last week's opponents. "It's a combination of genetic talent and the cumulative work in progress," Moore said. "As painful as it is to admit, the women of Yale and Cornell have worked harder for over a year."

Orange Challenge Cup This Weekend - Race/Broadcast Schedule

SU Women vs. Northeastern University and University of Pennsylvania

SATURDAY – April 9, 2011 Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association (SARA) is excited to provide live audio broadcasting of Men’s and Women’s races. Our announcers will be following the races in the chase launches, providing a stroke by stroke account of the races – from the start until the finish.

Below are the details and Saturday’s regatta schedule.

Via Phone / Conference Line: (712) 432-1496 4861# - you can bypass announcing your name by pressing #

Via Internet: Live video stream available on the Northeastern Rowing website: http://www.gonu.com/index.aspx?path=wrow

Women’s Rowing – Orange Challenge Cup – Charles River, Boston, MA Syracuse University versus University of Pennsylvania and Northeastern University Saturday, April 9, 2011

Race Schedule:

7:12 a.m. 3rd Varsity 8
7:48 a.m. Varsity 4 B
8:24 a.m. Varsity 4 A
9:00 a.m. Varsity 8
9:36 a.m. 2nd Varsity


Click on the image on this post for a full-size page of this coming weekend's racing broadcast information.

2011 U-23 Camp Announcements

story courtesy of SU Athletics

SYRACUSE – Syracuse University women’s rowers Gina Biascoechea and Rebecca Soja have been named to the U23 Women’s Pre-Elite National Team and Women’s National Team Freshman Camps, respectively, US Rowing announced today. Rachael Ogundiran and Maggie McCrudden were also named to the wait lists of Women’s U23 National Team and U23 Women’s Pre-Elite National Team Camps, respectively.

Biascoechea has sat in the second varsity eight five and three seats in Syracuse’s first two races of the spring. Soja has been a mainstay in the three seat of the varsity eight this spring. Ogundiran has been sidelined due to injury and McCrudden has sat in the five seat of the varsity eight in both regattas in 2011. “We are excited that several of the young women on our team have been recognized by USRowing as athletes with significant potential. Our squad, particularly our varsity 8+, is a very young crew,” head women’s rowing coach Justin Moore said. “Experiences like those offered by the United States Freshman, Pre-elite and U23 Camps will help to develop the competitive preparedness of our team. In addition to these four women, I am excited that many other women, from our varsity crew to our novice crew, have expressed an interest to row, train and improve this summer.”

Syracuse will play host to the 2011 USRowing Women's National Team Pre-Elite Camp from June 12-July 12 and will conclude at Club Nationals in Indianapolis, Ind. July 12-17. SU head women’s rowing coach Justin Moore will run the camp. Participants in the camp will have the opportunity to use SU's boathouse, tanks, ergs and weight room. The camp develops athletes for the U23 and Senior National Teams. The Freshman Camp is for athletes with elite level potential and aspirations, but who have only one or perhaps two years of collegiate rowing experience. The Women’s U23 National Team Camp is where USRowing selects the Open Women’s 8+ and 4x to compete at the 2011 FISA U23 World Championships scheduled for July 20-24th in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The camp also plans to select Open Women’s 2-, 4- and 2x to compete at U23 Trials June 27-29th at Mercer Lake, NJ.

Biascoechea, Soja, Ogundiran and McCrudden the rest of the Orange return to the water on Saturday, April 9 in Boston, Mass. at the Orange Challenge Cup against Northeastern and Pennsylvania.

March 2011 Orange Oar Newsletter Now Online

Many thanks to Orange Oar John Nicholson for another great edition of our favorite rowing newsletter.

Click here to access the PDF version.

Big Red takes Eli in Women's Eights; SU Trails

There was an upset on the Houstonic this morning but it was not the SU women who pulled it off. The 18th-ranked Cornell varsity eight knocked off #6 Yale by nearly a length with the Orange far behind.

Yale edged the Big Red in the 2V and Varsity four races and won easily in the third varsity eights. SU was well behind in each race.

In the Varsity 4B race, Cornell’s B and C boats defeated SU easily.

Click here for times courtesy of row2k.com

SU is back in Boston next weekend to face Northeastern and Penn in the Orange Challenge Cup races.

Other results

Led by it's #1 ranked Varsity Eight - Princeton swept four races against Rutgers and Navy.

Results here courtesy of row2k.com.

#5 Brown edged #20 Radcliffe in Providence.

Results here courtesy of row2k.com

The Orange is set for a two-day event including Radcliffe, Dartmouth and Louisville on April 16 and 17. Those races also will be on the Charles - SU's home away from home in a season which includes no races at SU.

Tigers Sweep SU in Opening Scrimmages

Princeton's varsity eight showed why it's number four in the coaches' poll this morning with a convincing win over #7 Syracuse and #18 Georgetown in what was billed as a scrimmage on Lake Carnegie.

Syracuse took the early lead with the Tigers in third, trailing the Hoyas. But Princeton rowed through the Hoyas and drew even with the Orange about 750 meters into the race. At the halfway point the Tigers had edged ahead and steadily opened the lead to win it by about a length of open water.

Georgetown closed on SU in the sprint but still finished third.

Princeton 5:48.6
SU 5:55.1
Georgetown 5:56.5.

Conditions - tailwind to varying crosswind- 38 degrees and sunny.

Princeton repeated the feat in the JV race with pretty much the same strategy. Syracuse led early but the Tigers took up the stroke and caught the Orange about 750 meters in. By the halfway point Princeton had the lead and while SU stayed in contact, it was the Tigers winning it. Georgetown trailed by a good margin.

PU 6:01.4
SU 6:04.7
GU 6:43.2

The Tiger frosh made it three-for-three - beating SU easily. The Orange led Georgetown across the line by about a length of open water.

PU 6:06.3
SU 6:18.4
GU 6:24.9

Princeton's 3V made it a sweep with a tight win over the Orange - the closest race of the day. The Tigers got across the finish line about a half length ahead of SU, which moved up during the sprint.

PU 6:12.3 SU 6:14.2

The crews were scheduled for some shorter scrimmage pieces later in the morning.

Syracuse is off for the next two weeks before heading to Ithaca to take on Cornell and Navy in the Goes Cup races April 16. The sixth-ranked Big Red took a beating from #3 Harvard on the Charles River this morning.

Results here courtesy of row 2k.com.

Other Men's results

12th ranked Boston University clobbered #5 Brown.
Results here courtesy of row2k.com.

SU Women Take on Yale and Cornell - Saturday, April 2

Thanks to the Daily Orange for this piece:

Chelsea Macpherson has taken to heart her head coach's nutty message. And with a meet against the nation's No. 6 team on deck, Macpherson and the rest of the Syracuse women's rowing team are hoping to channel SU head coach Justin Moore's loony rhetoric into a upset of No. 6 Yale.

Macpherson says Moore emphasizes that when rowing, a group must be collectively crazy in order to win. It's been one of his main mantras in his first year as head coach and has steered the Orange in meets. This weekend, SU's meet contains top-notch competition by way of Yale and Cornell rowing in the same field as SU.

Based off last season's results, SU will need to heed the advice of Moore now more than ever. In 2010, Yale and Cornell coasted to victories over SU by more than 15 seconds.

If there is ever a time to be a little loony, this weekend in Derby, Conn., is it.

"You have to go crazy to be in the field," Macpherson said.

The weekend in Connecticut provides SU with a rare opportunity: a matchup with the defending national champions. And no matter the outcome, it's an opportunity to relish.

But Moore's "crazy" mantra has yielded brash confidence for the Orange. SU is convinced Yale will have to look over their collective shoulder mid-race. Syracuse has the utmost confidence it will compete.

"I think they'll be very surprised halfway down the race course when we're still next to them, because we will be," junior Allison Todd said. "We're going to be all over them."

Syracuse is coming off a performance last week against Boston University when the third varsity eight won its race. The team as a whole made great strides, Moore said. Against elite competition, the team is excited to see how it stacks up, in preparation for upcoming meets and the Big East championships.

And the optimism goes back to the cocksure theme the first year coach preaches: constant improvement and increased confidence. Moore took over the program this past summer, and although the program experienced difficulties in the fall campaign, the team has seen results in Moore's system, Todd said. Results that Todd hopes will show this week.

"We've come so far as a team in eight months," Todd said. "We're faster, stronger, more fit. We're all excited to go."

The team did not perform well against Yale and Cornell last year, with the first, second and third varsity eights all finishing third behind Yale and Cornell. In the first varsity eight, Yale finished with a time of 6:27.4, while Syracuse clocked in at 6:46.2.

Last year's race posed tough elements to which the team did not adequately respond.

"The team didn't handle the conditions or the pressure," Moore said.

And against a crew with the caliber of Yale, there is little margin for error.

The Orange is very young, with 22 members either freshmen or sophomores. Just like with any young team, there comes the potential for improvement. With that, Moore feels that tangible development is necessary in the upcoming meets as a result.

"Because the crew is so young, we need to continue to build," Moore said. "We need to execute our strategy."

Despite the long odds and green makeup of the team, SU maintains winning is not out of the question. But the Orange knows it is important to not get discouraged about the final result.

For now, the team is on board with Moore's "crazy" philosophy. And with it, simply getting better each team they get in the water.

Still, the race poses opportunity. Competing against Yale will serve as a benchmark, a way of seeing how much training efforts over the last eight months have paid off. And as long as the team recognizes the quality of the opponent, the race should only help the team in the long run.

From its head coach all the way through the entire squad, as a collective SU might just be crazy enough to pull off the upset.

"When you're going to go out and race with the national champions, it tells you how close you're going to be," Macpherson said. "There's nothing to lose in this race."

kmprisei@syr.edu

SU vs. Princeton Scrimmage Coverage - Saturday, April 2

Princeton Rowing is providing complementary live audio and video broadcasting of Men’s and Women’s home races. Syracuse alumni, parents and friends have been granted access to the broadcast when the Syracuse Orange faces the Princeton Tigers and Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday, April 2. The announcers will be following the races in the chase launches, providing a stroke by stroke account of the races – from the start until the finish. Below are the details and Saturday’s regatta schedule. To listen to broadcasts over the phone, dial (609) 436-4171 Via Internet Listening Go to http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/princeton.portal Live Video Streaming – http://crew.princeton.edu/content/live_video Saturday’s Race Schedule: The first block of racing is: 8:00 a.m. – 1V 8:15 a.m. - 2V 8:30 a.m. - 1F 8:35 a.m. - 3V The second block is approx. 11:30-12:15 ET. More details will be posted as they become available.