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