Mark 2 - part 3

Talking with his crew before launch on Friday, Coach Sanford reminded them that “as bad as the boat felt and as bad as your rowed you all know what the boat feels like when it’s going well.” He told the guys to remember what it felt like when they were going well, remember they were relaxed…don’t put any extra pressure on, just go out and row what you’re trained to row and you’ll be fine.”

Off the line, and pretty much throughout the race, Northeastern set a furious pace; SU was content with a solid and comfortable second. The top two would qualify. The day was hot, with temperatures near ninety, and the decision to not go all out may have been influenced by Evancie’s dehydration the day before. Whatever the reason, at the end of the Friday morning racing, SU’s Varsity was into the finals, albeit without the benefit of a win in either the heats or the reps.

The local press wasn’t overly impressed with the race, with one reporter noting “Syracuse was overhauled in the stretch for the second straight day and Syracuse winds up second behind Northeastern.” Both Northeastern and Syracuse were going to qualify comfortably, as third place Princeton was a solid two lengths behind the Orange and wasn’t a real threat at any time. The reporter noted that after the hard row in the previous day’s heats, Sanford’s crew was more than content to qualify without expending any additional energy, energy they’d certainly need in the finals on Saturday.

Less than 24 hours later they were at the starting line.