Syracuse swept the Big Green of Dartmouth on a beautiful morning for racing on the Connecticut River, with the Varsity keeping the Packard Cup, beating Dartmouth by just about a length in very fast conditions. The JV won easily, the Freshmen edged the higher-ranked Big Green in a bang-bang finish and the Open Four won by about a length.
“I told the JV and Varsity last night these guys are going to come gunning for you, “ Coach Dave Reischman said. “Dartmouth is a good crew they’ve got a great coach.”
Reischman’s eighth-ranked varsity fell behind Topher Bordeau’s Dartmouth eight by a seat or two off the start, but pushed through in the second 500 meters, then fended off a series of pushes by the Big Green. Both crews rowed the race at about 37 on the fast-flowing river.
“We did a good job of just maintaining our composure and sticking to our rhythm,” Reischman said. “It didn’t look like we panicked at all.”
The JV race was never in doubt. SU jumped out to a lead off the start and continually extended it, with a length or more open at the halfway point. Rather than sit on the lead, SU sprinted right through the finish line to win by about four lengths.
The SU freshmen were more than three seconds slower than Dartmouth last weekend at the Eastern Sprints but made it all up this morning. Dartmouth has the early lead but SU fought back by the halfway point and neither crew ever led by more than a seat or two. Syracuse had the lead in the sprint but the finish was so close it took several minutes for the officials to announce the ruling and it was the Orange by about a quarter of a second.
“There’s nothing more gratifying for a coach than when your crew actually performs on race day,” Reischman said, crediting freshman coach Shawn Bagnall. “Shawn should take a lot of pride in that the guys did their best job in applying what they’ve been working on.”
The Open Four – made up of guys who have been spares for the varsity and frosh, started the day with a solid win over Dartmouth. They’d finished second at the Sprints, but Reischman said they were better this morning.
“I thought it was a great improvement today," Reischman said. "They were more composed, looser in the shoulders. “It’s a testament to the guys and the coach (Brad Hemmerly.)”
The Orange crews return home to get set for the IRA in less than two weeks. Reischman says the crews will work to improve and stay focused.
“You go to the IRA and you have an OK weekend you’re going to end up in the third level final. History has shown that. We’re really just focusing the next two weeks to make sure we are on our game and when the flag drops we’re ready to go.”
Results courtesy of row2k.com here: http://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=8477887&cat=1
Story from suathletics.com here: http://www.suathletics.com/news/2012/5/20/MROW_0520125826.aspx
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment