Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association

1977 - the year that wasn't, Part Two

2012-01-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

There were six seniors on the squad in 1977, but for whatever reason, Lyvers was the only senior who had come into the program with high school rowing experience who was still on the team in ’77. Recalling the foundation they had built, Mark said “there were six people who went all the way through the four years. Not all were on the varsity, but there was a core group of non-recruited people who did something for the rowing program while they were there, and their passion and love for the sport brought success.” One of those seniors, John Watson, would deliver a remarkable - and very rare - performance at the IRA.

The 1977 varsity eight was a pretty stable boat. The lineup didn’t change after spring camp, the boat made up of medalists - and champions – from frosh crews in previous years. Still, despite the evident talent in the boat, early in the racing season it just didn’t seem to completely gel, to come together and make the leap from freshman to varsity national champion. It wasn’t a personality issue, as Lyvers remembers the crew had “good chemistry”; it certainly wasn’t a lack of power – the crew had that in spades. What was missing, what they needed to make the transition from fast freshman crews to winning at the varsity level was technique. In retrospect Lyvers deemed a lack of finesse, technical proficiency and polish were the limiting factors. Mark recalled the boat had a “tremendous amount of power…We won races by overpowering other crews, but that only got us so far when we got to elite level; we needed a different level of expertise. That was the difference maker in that crew. Physically, [we were] probably more powerful than any other crew in the nation but we lacked on the technical side.”

The team stayed at Longbranch for spring camp, trading the trip south and warmer weather for more water time. While it was typical early March weather for upstate New York (chilly, cloudy, and one day of steady rain), the snow held off and the crews piled up the miles. After breaking camp, SU’s first race was scheduled for early April in Boston, and the competition was none other than the legendary Harry Parker’s Harvard Crimson. Coach Sanford had been talking with Parker for several years about the possibility of an early season race as a way for both crews to test their speed. Things had finally come together in early 1977 with the coaches agreeing to a home-and-home. The 1977 race was held in Boston at the rather unique distance of 2500 meters. The race was lengthened to allow for Syracuse’s lack of water time, with Sanford requesting, and Parker agreeing to the longer course.

While the day started out well enough with the second freshman eight rowing steadily away from Harvard for a close 2 1/2 second win, they were to be the only crew to head home with new shirts in their bags. Harvard managed to sweep the rest of the events, defeating the JV and first freshman by more than ten seconds. Due to an injury, the first frosh had a last minute lineup change that resulted in only one row for the crew before race day. The Varsity event was considerably closer, with SU trailing the Crimson by 3.2 seconds, proving it could compete with the cream of the EARC.

Winter Training - The SU Women

2012-01-23T20:50:00.004-05:00

Woah. Check out some of these images from the winter training trip.

Thank you to Coach Andrea Buch for posting these on the SU Women's Rowing Facebook page!

1977, the Year that Wasn't

2012-01-20T18:41:00.003-05:00

We're starting another chapter in the history of Syracuse Rowing; this one is 1977; the Year that Wasn't

here's the first section...

1977 - The year that wasn’t

Nineteen seventy-seven was going to be The Year. The Year that Bill Sanford’s Varsity finally brought the IRA championship back to Longbranch after 57 long years. The freshman under Drew Harrison had won the Regatta the previous year after a second in 1975 and a third in ‘74. The program was growing too, with three full varsity eights and more than two freshman boats on the water when what passed for a Syracuse ‘spring’ began. The talent was there, and the big eight, led by captain and stroke Mark Lyvers, was determined to deliver on its promise.

Lyvers had been in the ’74 frosh eight, which had finished third behind Cornell and Wisconsin at the IRA. The atmosphere at the end of the 1974 IRAs was exciting; the varsity had improved dramatically from previous years and the team had grown in numbers and commitment. Half of the freshmen stuck around for the summer and rowed in the Chargers program, and their effort paid off ; SU’s ’75 varsity eight boated four sophomores.

Apparently this wasn’t what the upperclassmen expected. According to Lyvers, the insertion of four sophomores into the varsity eight created a bit of tension between those new guys and those who had been there before. Before 1975, there’d been a sense – not quite an unwritten rule or tradition, more of a feeling that you earned your spot – at least in part – through seniority. Upperclassmen somehow ‘deserved’ those varsity seats more than sophomores, a concept that was foreign to the new guys on the varsity squad.

Whether it was the tension, a lack of maturity, or just not enough talent, the varsity didn’t really come together as a crew in 1975. 1976 was considerably better. SU had done very well in the Cup races, sweeping all events in the Goes Cup, winning the Varsity and Frosh races against Rutgers and both Varsity races over Brown. Despite all that success, when the Championship Regattas began, something seemed amiss. The Varsity failed to make the finals at the Sprints, but recovered somewhat for the Packard Cup where they defeated Dartmouth and MIT.

At the IRA, that spark seemed to have dimmed again, with the varsity finishing fourth in their heat. In the repechage on Friday, Syracuse finished 1.8 seconds behind winner California, earning a spot in Saturday’s Grand Finals. But that was it; in a race won by the same California crew in a time of 6:31, SU finished last in 6:39.8.

The varsity’s performance in the Sprints and IRAs were undoubtedly affected by Lyvers’ previously-undiagnosed case of mononucleosis. The varsity stroke had been pushing hard all season, trying to battle through what seemed to be fatigue and exhaustion from training. The crew was working very hard, and everyone was spent after practice; as the stroke, Lyvers was also the heart and soul of the boat, and he expected a lot from himself. While Lyvers battled through the season, it is apparent in hindsight that the illness had taken its toll, and races on consecutive days left no time for recovery.

What are all those Brits doing in Crimson?

2012-01-11T16:16:00.002-05:00

Interesting article from my favorite newsmagazine - The Economist - on Brits rowing in US college crews and vice versa. There's a bit of an answer to the title question too...

http://www.economist.com/node/21542444

Ivy league recruiting

2011-12-23T15:07:00.004-05:00

If you've been wondering about the state of college athletics, and maybe marveling at Harvard's recent top-25 basketball rating, or last year when Yale held the top ranking in NCAA D1 men's hockey for two months, Cornell's wrestling team was number one in the country the entire season, or the year before when the Big Red men's basketball team made it to the Sweet Sixteen, wonder no more.

Turns out the Ivies are handing out big money to athletes that are heavily recruited by big time NCAA D1 programs...and some are accepting aspiring students with GPAs and test scores that aren't exactly Ivy League.

An excerpt from an article in today's NYT is below; emphasis added;

"The Ivy League does not award athletic scholarships, but led by endowment-rich members like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, the conference has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in additional need-based aid — with most of the universities all but eliminating student loans and essentially doubling the size of grants meant for middle-income families.

The financial-aid enhancements have had a profound effect on the quality of athletic recruits. Rosters are now fortified with top athletes who would have turned down the Ivy League in the past because they would have been asked to pay $20,000 to $30,000 per year more than at other colleges.

“We’re seeing a significant change in the caliber of the student-athlete,” said Steve Bilsky, the University of Pennsylvania’s athletic director, one of more than 50 Ivy League administrators and coaches interviewed. “It’s not even the same population because the pool has widened. We see a considerable number of student-athletes turning down athletic scholarships from places like Stanford, Northwestern or Duke to come to Penn.”

Andy Noel, Cornell’s athletic director, said: “Eighty percent of our best recruits in the current freshman class would not have come here 10 years ago because we couldn’t match other schools’ offers. The impact has been enormous. And will continue to be.”

A recruited Ivy League athlete must have the academic credentials to survive the stringent and highly selective admissions process at each institution. Coaches have little sway in the admissions process, although they do provide a list of potential athletes to admissions officials. Across the league, about 13 percent of each university’s incoming class is composed of athletes chosen from coaches’ lists.

But the new, plentiful financial aid awards have permitted Ivy League coaches to compete head-to-head in the same recruiting arena as some big-time scholarship programs. And in sports like baseball, soccer, wrestling or lacrosse, where most athletic scholarships are split into partial scholarships worth a half or a quarter of the cost to attend, it is not uncommon for an Ivy League financial aid package to be superior to the athletic scholarship.

At most Ivy League institutions, families earning less than about $65,000 annually are now asked to make no contribution to their children’s education. Families making $65,000 to $180,000 might be expected to pay 10 percent to 18 percent of their annual income on a sliding scale. Ten years ago, such families would have been expected to pay almost twice as much, and their child would probably have accumulated a debt of about $25,000 after four years."

National Champions - Part Five

2011-12-20T17:48:00.003-05:00

This is the final installment of the first chapter of the new history of Syracuse rowing, entitled Mark of the Orange.

While the third 500 was the key, Street knew that Vic Michalson’s Brown was a very good headwind crew. This was shaping up to be a very long two thousand meters, and they’d have to go very, very hard to hold them off. After the effort of the third five hundred, that was a tall order indeed. Brown evidently knew it had to go early, as the SU lead was too big to overcome in the last thirty strokes. About ten strokes into the last five hundred, Street saw them begin to go. He told his crew “Here comes Brown, just relax.” Waiting for a few beats, the boat noticeably relaxed, the tension seemed to dissipate. Ozzie called the sprint, the rating came up, the boat was flying, and Brown’s push into the Syracuse lead halted, then reversed. With 20 strokes to go, the Orange bow was in front and moving away from Bruno. Those last twenty strokes, Henwood would say years later that he knew they would win, and despite the utter exhaustion, there was an incredible feeling of accomplishment, of joy. So much had gone into this six-and-a-half minutes, so many hours of training and so much effort and struggle, and now, in that instant, it was coming together just as they’d pictured it so many times.

As the Orange eight crossed the finish line, the stands erupted. The hometown crowd had watched and listened and cheered, dismay turning to exuberance as SU had driven through the field in that key third five hundred, held off Brown, then moved out again to win convincingly. Now, as the crew men waited their turn to pull into the awards dock, there were handshakes up and down the boat, back-slapping, yells of congratulations and a celebratory dive into Onondaga by Gerry Henwood. With bronze and silver medals awarded, SU pulled into the dock, Street called the ‘one foot, up and out’ and the oarsmen faced a roar from their coach, teammates, families, friends, and fans.

They had done it. They were IRA Varsity Champions.

For Sanford, the victory was sweet indeed. Walking down to the awards dock, he ran into the Herald-Journal’s Bob Snyder. Earlier, Sanford had heard Snyder was going to write Sanford’s epitaph if the Varsity didn’t come home with the trophy. Spotting Snyder, Sanford told him “Looks like you’re going to have to rewrite your story.”

Pedaling the short distance back to the boathouse from the finish line, Sanford recalled the difficult path they’d trod on the way to the podium. That opening loss to Harvard on a course shortened by a blizzard, the injury to Sibley, his decision to keep Street – at 146 pounds, by far the heaviest coxswain at the regatta – in the Varsity, the pressure to produce after two years of freshman championships, the prior year when he felt SU should have won. The memories flooded back, halted only when he pedaled up to the dock.

There, Ozzie Street was in full voice. Sanford remembers Street talking to the press, saying “I told everybody we had this thing back in April and nobody wanted to listen to me; now maybe in the future you’ll listen to me.” Recalling that moment, Sanford said “I can remember him going off and everybody laughing at him. He had a good time with it and he took full credit. He took full credit for it, which every one of them should have. But you’ve got a guy like (three man Andy) Mogish who sees a camera or a recorder and ducks away and he wouldn’t want to talk - and then you’d see (seven man) Bill Reid, who came out of his shell and he starts talking. The guy you couldn’t get that close to over the years, all the time he was feeling the same thing everybody else was. And he was a real big part of that whole thing.”

The crew threw Street into the river in celebration. And then they threw Sanford in too.

After 58 years, the Syracuse Varsity was finally back on top.

National Champions, part four

2011-12-13T08:33:00.001-05:00

This is the fourth installment of the first chapter of Mark of the Orange 2 - the history of SU Rowing from 1962 to today.

Before the race, cox Ozzie Street and Sibley had discussed the crew’s weak point – the third 500. All season this had been a bit of a problem, and the other crews that had raced successfully against SU had usually made their move there. Sibley and Street decided they had to break that pattern. For the finals, the plan was to start well, stay among the leaders, then pull all out the stops in the third 500 and break away.

The finals featured Penn, Cornell, Northeastern, SU, Brown, and California with the Orange in “lucky lane five” (where Henwood, Street, and Sibley had been a year before when they won the second of Drew Harrison’s three consecutive IRA frosh titles). It turned out to be a classic Syracuse IRA race – a bit of chop, good headwind and a tight pack with no clear favorite.

“Are you ready? Ready all. Row!” They were off.

The pack was pretty tight off the line. Then it settled into a dogfight. Henwood felt a lot of splashing at the start. Then the pace settled, the legs started pounding down, and while the boat wasn’t the smoothest it had been, it was moving. It felt stronger and more powerful somehow, definitely different than the feeling in the heats and reps in the two days before.

The good feeling in the boat wasn’t felt by SU fans on the shore. Listening to the race announcer, they heard the Orange in fifth place after five hundred meters. Out in lane five, the conditions were somewhat rougher than the more-protected inside lanes, and that may have helped the near shore crews open up an early lead. But Syracuse was under-stroking the field at a 33, waiting for conditions to improve.

Coming to the thousand meter mark, the Orangemen were right where they wanted to be, behind Penn, Cornell, and Brown all in the inshore lanes, but well within striking distance. Cal wasn’t handling the conditions as well and seemed to be faltering just a bit, while Northeastern’s hard effort the day before in the heat seemed to have taken a toll; NU fell off the pace in the second five hundred.

Ahead at the finish line, the crowd may well have groaned upon hearing Syracuse was in fourth at the midpoint, but Sanford wasn’t concerned. He was thinking “just keep a steady pace as the water gets better, up your stroke and you’re going to go faster and faster and so at the 1,000 meter mark we were in fourth place and then we just went through the rest of them in the last 1,000 just by swinging and rhythm and taking the stroke to a 34-35 as the water got better. And we were long as hell. We were the longest crew out there and into that headwind that paid off because then they just went by – just motored away.”

The Orange were determined to make this their strength; for weeks they’d been focusing on driving through the third 500, and the crew dug in. As the Orange entered the third five hundred, from the bow seat Henwood saw the engine room in the middle of the boat “moving a wall of water with each stroke”. With the powerful Purdy, Evancie, Shamlian and Townsley driving the boat into the headwind, they started to move away from Penn and Cornell. Halfway thru that 500, SU had broken clear of Penn and Cornell, leaving Northeastern, and Cal further back. The power kept coming, and with 500 to go it was SU in front of Brown by almost a length.

Syracuse had gone from well back in fourth to well out in the lead in just five hundred meters. The Orangemen had taken the worst part of their race, that dread third five hundred, when the legs are screaming and there’s so far to go and they had made it theirs.

Christmas is coming!

2011-12-12T17:58:00.000-05:00

First published in 1963, Mark of the Oarsmen is a narrative history of Syracuse University rowing from 1885 to 1960. SARA has orchestrated the second printing of Mark of the Oarsmen and is now available for alumni and friends of Syracuse rowing. The newly printed 400 page / 80 photo hardcover book will be shipped to you direct from the Ingram Press for the cost of $39.95 (this price includes shipping).

This book is an absolute must read for anyone who has pulled an oar for Syracuse. Plan ahead...this makes a great holiday gift!

“Ten Eyck’s varsity crew dashed off to a beautiful start, managed to hold a three foot lead over the Sailors at the first eight mile.
Navy began to come up.
Rammi raised the Syracuse beat.
Stroke for stroke, the two crews races together until a few yards away from the finish, Syracuse with a mighty surge shot out in front by a quarter boat length and won." - Excerpt from Mark of the Oarsmen

National Champions! Part Three

2011-12-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

Despite having to work their way into the Grands via the repechage, Varsity bowman Gerry Henwood and the rest of the crew knew their boat was comprised of guys who had won at the IRAs before in Drew Harrison’s victorious 1976 and 1977 crews, along with seniors Bill Reid, Andy Mogish, future Olympian Bill Purdy, Tom Evancie, and Dave Townsley who all had won silver as freshmen. If anything, the reps had helped the crew get just a bit more racing experience, a big help after the late-season injury to sophomore stroke Art Sibley had resulted in a line-up shift for the Packard Cup against Dartmouth

Weather for the finals featured a headwind causing the first thousand to be either “pretty” or “very” choppy depending on who’s recalling the conditions. The Varsity Grand Final would be the last race of the day, and there was lots of racing to be done before the closing event. In the first of the eights races, Drew Harrison’s freshman eight successfully defended its national championship, handily defeating Northeastern with Cornell coming in third. This was becoming a typical SU freshman performance, with the crew gaining considerable speed at IRA camp and defeating crews that had beaten them earlier in the season. Northeastern had won the Sprints, and the victory was sweet indeed for the Orange frosh. As the bemedaled and beaming freshman eight pulled away from the awards dock, the finish line crowd roared its approval of the first of what they hoped would be an Orange sweep of the eights. The freshmen had delivered, now it was up to the JV and Varsity.

Alas, while the JV was able to finish with a podium spot, it was not the top place. Capturing bronze behind Penn in front followed by the Northeastern Huskies, the second eight acquitted itself well, staying in contention throughout the race in conditions that were slow – and getting slower as the head wind seemed to build.

With the small boats and lower eights out of the way, it was time for the marquee event – the Varsity Eights.

Rowing and Democracy

2011-12-05T10:37:00.002-05:00

There's a pretty interesting bit of research underway to assess the influence of rowing - the trireme, three banks of oars, ancient Greek type of rowing - on the growth of democracy in Ancient Athens.

According to a piece from Bowdoin College's website,

"Many of the rowers were at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, recruited into service to fit out Athens’s sizeable naval fleet. Their participation in the ship’s teamwork was an embodiment of the new democratic ideal, says Munn.

“These people had no influence and all of the sudden the city adopts a new naval strategy and they’re at the heart of it,” he observes. “Think about what you need to function effectively in a democracy; you need to be able to work as a team. I believe it gave them the confidence to take the rights of the democracy and use them as a political force.”

We'll keep you posted.

Now, we who rowed under Drew, Bill, and Dave know that "democracy" does NOT accurately describe Syracuse rowing - but perhaps that's because ancient Syracuse was one of Athens' rivals...

Mark 2 - part 3

2011-12-02T20:15:00.000-05:00

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.

National Champions! Part Two

2011-11-30T08:51:00.002-05:00

This is the second part of what will be the opening chapter in Mark 2.

It started with that loss to powerful Harvard on a Syracuse course shortened by the weather, then a Goes Cup win over Cornell, as Navy stayed home. The Eastern Sprints saw Yale upset the Harvard Varsity, with Syracuse finishing third.

The Orange looked to have another shot at Yale with the Eli joining Dartmouth and MIT on Packard Cup race day in Syracuse. But Orange stroke Sibley was nursing a pulled scapular muscle after the Sprints, forcing a change in the varsity lineup. Henwood moved from bow to the other end of the boat to stroke, with fellow soph Steve Anthony coming up from the JV to row in bow.
Alas, Dartmouth deprived SU of its shot at Yale by upsetting the Eli in the morning, as the Orange dispatched MIT. SU had to be content with taking care of the Big Green and winning the Packard Cup in the afternoon.

By all accounts, the boat had been flying at the Packard Cup, with Anthony’s mental toughness and power contributing to the dominant performance. Still, Sibley’s recovery was a big concern. While no one discounted Steve Anthony’s ability and will to move a boat, Sibley was the varsity’s guy and he had worried he wouldn’t be ready for the IRAs.

He wasn’t the only one wondering; a local reporter had asked Coach Sanford about Sibley’s status. The Coach’s response had been unequivocal – “we need Art in the boat at the IRA”. That opinion was shared by the crew. Seven man Bill Reid had insisted they go out in a pair while Art was working his way back, and the row had done wonders for Art’s confidence. Art recalled that Bill had told him he wanted nothing more than to get Art back in the boat, and he had come back to the dock at the end of the row with renewed confidence. (Soon) Sibley returned to his spot, facing Ozzie Street.

In spite of Sibley’s return the Varsity hadn’t moved well in Thursday’s opening heat. The boat had felt out of sync and heavy. Trying to get some swing in the boat, Street had called the rating down from 34 to 32 “to settle the crew down. I hoped dropping the cadence would get them in a rhythm, But it backfired and Cal began to move out on us,” and when the rhythm stumbled, the crew couldn’t get it back together. Despite holding on to the lead for the first part of the race, SU couldn’t maintain it. Cal pulled away in the last forty strokes, earning a spot in the finals and consigning the Orange to a trip to the reps. After the race, the crewmen were a bit dispirited; they’d worked very hard in the race but the boat hadn’t moved like it had in practice, and now had to race again on Friday.

Attitudes brightened when the crew learned that six-man Tom Evancie had been suffering from dehydration most of the race and thus had little left in the last 500. Evancie was hustled into the care of the trainers, who administered IV fluids. He started feeling much better before the day was over. As for Evancie’s teammates, they knew they had a much better race in them, and began to focus on their next race; the reps. The crew would have to race well on short rest to make the Grand Finals.

Mark of the Orange II - Chapter One, National Champions! Part One

2011-11-21T17:53:00.001-05:00

Bill Sanford stood near the victory dock at the IRA finish line on Onondaga, waiting for the start of the last race of the day – the men’s Varsity Eight. As the tall, gangly coach listened for the announcer’s call that the race had started, the north wind ruffled his thinning hair, foreshadowing a rough start and long race for the big boats. After a season that had started out with a poor showing in a home loss to Harvard, the crew had come together, improving seemingly every week. With a solid string of wins in dual meets, a decent showing at the Sprints, and strong talent up and down the boat, Sanford felt confident his crew would be among the medalists.

Less than an hour before, coxswain Ozzie Street had launched the Varsity from the dock at Longbranch. Walking down the boat, shaking each man’s hand before they pushed off, Sanford had seen little of the banter that normally marked the pre-race launch. Instead, he felt a quiet confidence coming from the crew. Normally sophomore stroke Art Sibley and his classmate and bowman Gerry Henwood would be bouncing around, annoying the upperclassmen on the crew, but this was different – the guys were “wired, they were ready to go but they seemed relaxed and happy they were in the finals…they were quiet and I think that was because they were focused.”

Finals day had dawned hazy and a good bit cooler than Friday; a steady headwind was predicted and conditions on Onondaga looked to be a bit choppy, especially near the start of the two thousand meter course on the lake’s eastern shore. As the boathouse bunkroom came to life, most of the guys came out on the balcony to check conditions before heading into the dining room/Sanford living room for Sandy Pisani’s pre-race breakfast. With all three Orange eights in the Grand Finals along with an SU entry in almost all the small boat events, there was much to be excited about at Longbranch. Buzz Congram’s Northeastern crew also had crews in each of the eight finals, and the Huskies, along with Brown and California, the guest from the West, were looking like serious competitors for the top of the podium.

There was a good deal of confidence in all the SU boats. The JV was coming off a very solid season, the frosh were looking for a third straight title and the Varsity had seen very solid results late in the season that had been a bit unsatisfying for the Orange.

Mark of the Orange II - a note from the authors

2011-11-21T17:45:00.002-05:00

John Nicholson and I have completed the first chapter of the history of Syracuse rowing from 1960 to today (or perhaps 2010). You'll be able to read this chapter here - exclusively - in several posts.

We've decided to begin the new book with what is arguably the seminal event in SU rowing history over the last fifty years - the 1978 IRA Varsity Championship. Seems like a natural after concluding the initial Mark of the Oarsman with the story of SU's Pan Am crew of 1959.

We're currently working on the rest of Mark 2, and as always welcome contributions, photos, race programs, and corrections of factual errors. Undoubtedly some will offer suggestions and we'll take them under advisement.

Now, read on!

Men's Foot of the Charles 2011

2011-11-20T05:45:00.009-05:00

Results:

Varsity Fours:
1. Harvard A 12:53
11. Syracuse A 13:22
15. Syracuse B 13:43
20. Syracuse C 13:51
30. Syracuse D 14:23

Frosh Eight:
1. Harvard A 12:21
5. Syracuse A 13:23

A full array of photos can be found here.

November 19, 2011 FOOT OF THE CHARLES (MEN) - Schedule

2011-11-15T13:50:00.002-05:00

This coming Saturday, the SU men will be racing in Boston at the Foot of the Charles (men's version). The crews will be launching out of Newell Boathouse (Harvard). Racing schedule is as follows:

Varsity 4+ races: 7:30 a.m.

Frosh 8+ races: 8:00 a.m.

Come on down and cheer on our guys!

2011 Foot of the Charles

2011-11-12T19:30:00.004-05:00

The SU Women made a strong statement this morning in Boston that they came to race.

Conditions were generally good over the 2.3 mile course -- 13-15 mph SW winds with some gusts. Crews dealt with a strong tailwind for the first 1000m through the powerhouse. As the course turned, the crews powered through a stiff headwind for the last mile. Water conditions remained relatively flat.

In a field of 39 V4+s, the SU Women came out with a 3rd (SU B), 4th (SU A), 16th (SU D), 23rd (SU C), and 39th (SU E).

The novice 8+ also fared well with a 4th place finish in a field of 23!

Full results can be found here.

A full array of images of the day can be found here.

Next weekend, the SU Men come to town for their turn at the Charles.

SU Women Racing in Boston this Weekend - FOOT OF THE CHARLES 2011

2011-11-11T12:35:00.004-05:00

Coming off a great performance at the Syracuse Invitational last weekend, the SU women will take it on the road to the Foot of the Charles in Boston tomorrow (Saturday, November 12). Come on down and watch the races! The team will be launching from the Radcliffe Boathouse.

Here's the morning racing schedule:

9:45 AM V4+ Race
10:45 AM N8+ Race
11:15 AM 3V8+ Race

Super Mike Selected as Male Athlete of the Month

2011-11-11T11:55:00.001-05:00

story courtesy of www.row2k.com

PRINCETON, N.J. - Mike Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.) was selected as the U.S. Olympic Committee's Male Athlete of the Month for October, the organization announced on Thursday.

"It's an honor to be recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee," said Gennaro. "It's a privilege to be among athletes from all these other sports. It's nice to represent rowing in any way I can."

Gennaro won two gold medals at the XVI Pan American Games held Oct. 15-19 in Guzman City, Mexico. He won his first gold with U.S. teammate Ty Otto (Seattle, Wash.) in the men's pair. The crew crossed the line 1.67 seconds ahead of Brazil for the gold medal in 6:47.07.

The following day, Gennaro stroked the U.S. men's eight crew to victory. After taking command off the start, the crew built more than a one-second advantage during the first 500 meters of the race and increasing that lead to more than three seconds over Mexico at the midway point. Despite a late charge by Canada, the U.S. crew cruised to a 1.69-second victory.

The Syracuse University graduate and former captain won gold in the men's eight earlier this summer at the 2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.

Gymnast Jordyn Wieber (DeWitt, Mich.) was selected as the U.S. Olympic Committee's Female Athlete of the Month for October, while the U.S. women's field hockey team was awarded Team of the Month. Beijing Olympic rower Margot Shumway (Westlake, Ohio), a women's single sculls gold medalist at the XVI Pan American Games, came in third.

Each National Governing Body nominated one female, one male and one team per discipline. A voting panel selects the winners from the pool of nominees, with online fan voting via Twitter accounting for 10 percent of the total vote.

FEMALE 1. Jordyn Wieber, Gymnastics 2. Lauren Gibson, Softball 3. Margot Shumway, Rowing

MALE 1. Mike Gennaro, Rowing 2. Danell Leyva, Gymnastics 3. Kibwé Johnson, Track & Field

TEAM 1. U.S. Women's Field Hockey Team 2. U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team 3. U.S. Softball Team

Syr Invite Time Lapse

2011-11-07T11:48:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of Stephanie Keefe and Chris Azar here is a time-lapse of Saturday's events, Enjoy!

Dr. Bruce Chamberlain - 1920 - 2011

2011-11-05T15:33:00.002-04:00

It is with a very heavy heart that we report the loss of the Godfather and undisputed Patriarch of Syracuse University Rowing, Dr. Bruce Chamberlain. Dr. Chamberlain passed away Wednesday evening in Syracuse at the age of 91.

As reported by John Nicholson:

Dr. Chamberlain rowed in varsity and JV boats for the Orange, graduating in 1943. Along with Dr. Tom Kerr he co-founded the Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association and was a steadfast support of the rowing programs for the rest of his life. He was instrumental in the publication of the Mark of the Oarsmen and was team physician for the men's team for many years. Dr. Chamberlain was inducted into the SARA Hall of Fame in 2010.

A memorial service is scheduled at DeWitt Community Church on Saturday, November 26 at 11:30 a.m. Additional details will be provided as they become available.

Our sympathies and prayers go out to Dr. Chamberlain's family. We have lost a great man and a true gentleman.

Men's Team Races Head of the Charles for Bartosz

2011-10-21T19:39:00.003-04:00

The Men's Team will be racing the Head of the Charles this weekend and as participating members of Pull for a Cure this year they have been raising money for Lymphoma Research in honor of Bartosz. If you'd like to donate click here and keep an eye out for the Men's Team to come down the course with "Shrimps" on their backs as they race for Bartosz.

The hardware

2011-10-19T16:03:00.002-04:00

Here's Mike Gennaro on-site after his two trips to the top of the podium at the Pan Am Games...

Gennaro's golden - again

2011-10-19T14:41:00.003-04:00

SU alum Mike Gennaro's done it again - this time his gold is of the Pan American variety for the men's eight. After winning the World Championship in the U23 eight, Mike was back in the stroke seat for the Pan Ams. The US led from the start in a wire-to-wire win. Clocking a 5:39.3, the American eight was 1.8 seconds in front of our neighbors to the north, with Argentina coming in third in 5:41.8.

Earlier Mike and pair partner Ty Otto of Seattle had won the men's pair, making this Mike's third international gold this year. In the pair, Gennaro and Otto led from the start after a blazing 1:37.6 in the first 500. Brazil was second, with Canada taking the bronze.

With London hosting next year's Olympics, Mike's parents and family will want to make sure their passports are up to date for another trip overseas.

Help Solve This Mystery

2011-10-12T21:21:00.003-04:00

SARA Board Member Adlai Hurt received a vintage copy of the fabled first run of Mark of the Oarsmen as a gift. Inside was this cryptic inscription (click on the image to enlarge it).

Here are Adlai's thoughts:

My primary suspects for “Tom” include those historical committee members on Page 370: Thomas Dunham, Dr. Thomas Kerr, or Thomas Rouen. I’m not sure who “Gools” could be.

On a similar line of thinking, “Dick” might be Richard Horstmann from the historical committee.

Any ideas who this book belonged to?

Fall in Syracuse

2011-10-11T08:45:00.002-04:00

Many thanks to the Syracuse Women's Rowing Facebook page for these beautiful images of fall rowing in Syracuse. Miss it yet? I sure do.

Coach Moore again tapped to run USRowing U-23 Pre Elite Camp

2011-10-04T08:43:00.002-04:00

(many thanks to Orange Oar Editor John Nicholson for this article)

Following an extremely successful 8 week camp over the summer of 2010 that culminated with Club National Championship wins in the Senior 2- and 4x, Syracuse head coach Justin Moore has again been asked to lead the camp in the summer of 2012.

“The pre-elite camp’s goal is to take some of the best collegiate athletes we have in the country and help them to understand how to train as national team athletes,” Moore says. “It’s a month living the life of a national team athlete.”

“I tried to make it a priority in the summer of going out and helping in being part of the process and doing what little I could to help bring athletes forward.. With the pre-elite camp, we really tried to respond to what Tom Terhaar and Annie Kakela were looking for, and the priority of the camp was to expose, and maximize the time we had exposing the women to small boats rowing,” said Moore.

Although 2011 marked Coach Moore’s and Syracuse’s’ first involvement with hosting the camp, the outstanding feedback from athletes from universities around the country, their coaches when they returned to campus this fall, and achieving the objectives set out by USRowing, will ensure that it won’t be the last.

Moore has coached some of these women before. Notre Dame’s Molly Bruggeman is one whom he coached in juniors. “He’s a great coach,” she says. “Syracuse is lucky to have him. I pretty much know how he coaches and it’s been helpful in my improvement.”

Andrew R. Tedesco - SU Class of 1953

2011-10-03T08:25:00.004-04:00

It is with a heavy heart that we report the loss of SARA member Andrew R. Tedesco ('53). Andy was the stroke of his JV crew during his time at SU.

He will be missed.

Click here for a link to Andy's obituary.

Many thanks to Ed Shepherd for bringing this news to our attention.

SEPTEMBER ORANGE OAR NOW ON-LINE

2011-09-30T20:12:00.004-04:00

The September issue of The Orange Oar, SARA'S quarterly newsletter is now on-line at http://www.saracrew.org/

It features interviews with Coaches Justin Moore and Dave Reischman on the outlooks for the women's and men's teams, coverage of the shell dedication to Bartosz Szczyrba and the usual updates on our alums in Backsplash.

There's also Tracy Smith's Letter from the President, information and registration forms for Coach Bill Sanford's induction to our Hall of Fame and much more.

In addition, the June issue recapping the spring season also has now been posted at http://www.saracrew.org/

If you have information for the next Orange Oar contact John Nicholson at jsnich@twcny.rr.com.

Monday Loveliness

2011-09-26T12:41:00.002-04:00

Monday morning practice on beautiful Lake Onondaga...

(photos via Facebook)

Bartosz Boat Dedication: Greatness, Determination and Shrimps

2011-09-24T11:29:00.004-04:00

This morning at the boathouse alumni and current team members came together to pay homage to Bartosz Szczyrba and dedicate a shell in his honor. Although, as current members of the team we did not have the good fortune to have known Bartosz, however, through the great many stories we have heard from those who did, its obvious to us how much influence he had and continues to on the lives of those who knew him and this program. For those who were unaware, we are currently raising money for 'Pull for the Cure' at the Head of the Charles Regatta which normally raises money for Breast Cancer but given the circumstances we have worked with the organizers and the American Cancer Society to have the funds raised by our program go to lymphoma research in honor of Bartosz. Please help us in this endeavor and together we can work to fight this horrible disease.

To donate please go to the teams page at SU Men's Crew: Pull for the Cure

Here are some photos from this mornings ceremony.

Bartosz Szczyrba Boat Dedication Tomorrow

2011-09-23T09:38:00.005-04:00

Bartosz Szczyrba Memorial and Boat Dedication Ceremony

Time
Saturday, September 24 · 10:00am - 11:00am

Location
The James A. Ten Eyck Memorial Boathouse
Ten Eyck Rd.
Syracuse, NY

Please join us to celebrate the life of Bartosz Szczyrba of the Syracuse University class of 2007.

Bartosz was an excellent oarsman, student and friend. The memorial will be held at the Ten Eyck Boathouse, a place where Bartosz sent much of his time simply making boats go fast and pushing his teammates to higher levels. In his honor, a shell in the current SU men's rowing fleet will bear Bartosz's name. Part of our celebration will be the christening of this boat.

We look forward to seeing you there to celebrate the life of our friend and fellow Syracuse oarsman.

(Many thanks to Mike Beck for sourcing this information)

Coach Bill Sanford to Be Inducted Into the SARA Hall of Fame

2011-09-19T08:51:00.026-04:00

SARA Rowing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
and Celebration Honoring

Coach Bill Sanford

Saturday, November 5, 2011

In recognition of his numerous achievements both on and off the water, his unwavering commitment to the rowing community, and the impact he has had on so many members of the Syracuse Rowing program, the Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association has enthusiastically nominated Coach Bill to be inducted into the Syracuse Rowing Hall of Fame.

Weekend Schedule of Events

Friday - November 4
6:00 PM Informal gathering at “The Retreat” Restaurant, Liverpool Village
The Retreat
302 Vine Street
Liverpool, NY

Saturday - November 5
9 AM: Syracuse Fall Invitational Regatta – Men’s and Women’s Team racing
Post Race: Coach Bill’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
5PM – 9PM: A banquet celebration of Coach Bill’s achievements (dinner included)

The banquet will take place at the Ramada, Syracuse. Price is $55 per plate ($45 for SU classes 2006 - 2011) , payable to SARA. Hotel rooms at the Ramada have been blocked for Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th, at $99 per night.

Ramada Syracuse
1305 Buckley Road, Syracuse, NY 13212
http://www.ramadasyracuse.com/home.html
315-457-8670

PLEASE RSVP ASAP TO: Jason Premo, jmpremo@hotmail.com, 315-546-4735

MEN'S SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

2011-09-14T18:35:00.002-04:00

From suathletics.com

The Syracuse University men’s rowing program announced its schedule for the 2011-12 season. The Orange will race in four events in the fall, including the Head of the Charles in Boston on Oct. 23, the Princeton Chase on Oct. 30 and the Syracuse Fall Invitational on Nov. 5 at the James A. Ten Eyck Memorial Boathouse. SU will close out the fall season back in Boston with the Foot of the Charles on Nov. 19.

Last fall, the Orange showed great success in these upcoming events. The varsity four boat took first in both the Princeton Chase and the Syracuse Invitational and placed third in the Foot of the Charles. The varsity eight boat finished second in the Princeton Chase.

On March 31, SU will begin the spring season by taking on Princeton and Georgetown in Princeton, N.J., in the the first of six races. The Orange will host Navy and Cornell for the Goes Trophy on April 14. The following races include the Conlan Cup in Boston on April 21, the Eastern Sprints in Worcester, Mass. on May 13, the Packard Cup at Dartmouth on May 20 and the IRA Regatta in Camden, N.J., a three day event beginning on May 31.

Last year, the varsity eight boat took home the Goes Trophy, finished first in the Packard Cup, second in the Conlan Cup, and ninth overall in the I.R.A. Regatta.

Schedule here: http://www.suathletics.com/schedule.aspx?path=crew&tab=rowing2

Mark of the Oarsmen NOW ON SALE

2011-08-25T08:58:00.012-04:00

How I Spent My Summer Vacation....(Part II)

2011-08-23T14:17:00.003-04:00

(subtitled: "It's a Dirty Job, but someone has to do it!")

While the rest of the world summers at the beach, the SU staff puts in the docks.

Gennaro Makes the Pan Am Team

2011-08-23T08:53:00.004-04:00

Is there any stopping Mike Gennaro?

Apparently not!

Huge props to our newest superstar who will represent the USA at the 2011 Pan Am Games. Gettin' it DONE!

2011 Pan Am Games Trials Results
Race 8: 10:40 AM Mens 2-

Final
1st 4 USRowing Training Center - OKC A (M. Gennaro) 06:37.49 06:37.49
2nd 3 USRowing Training Center - OKC B (B. Didier) 06:42.75 1.3% 06:42.75 00:00:05.26
3rd 2 Penn AC B (H. Cole) 06:45.72 2.1% 06:45.72 00:00:08.23
4th 5 Merrimac (R. Connell) 06:47.05 2.4% 06:47.05 00:00:09.56

What Are You Doing with YOUR Summer?

2011-08-23T08:39:00.004-04:00

SU Coaches Dave Reischman, Andrea Buch and Justin Moore ripped it up this past weekend -- riding 50 miles for the Hoosic River Ride (Bennington, VT), followed by several vigorous hours of hiking.

We can be certain of at least three people that will return to campus in shape!

Natalie Mastracci Makes the Candadian W8+

2011-08-12T13:09:00.004-04:00

Huge congratulations to SU's Natalie Mastracci who will be representing Canada later this month at the World Championships in Bled. Natalie will be rowing in the W8+. Way to go Natalie!

The only thing that would make this better is if she was rowing for the USA!

A New Coach Added for the SU Men's Team

2011-08-10T12:28:00.004-04:00

many thanks to SU Athletics for this story:

SYRACUSE – Syracuse University head coach Dave Reischman has added Brad Hemmerly as an assistant coach. A native of Pickerington, Ohio, Hemmerly was the interim head coach at Williams College in 2010-11. His four-year coaching career also includes stints at the US Junior Women’s National Team Development Camp, New Haven Rowing Club and the Ohio State University Crew Club.

“We are very happy to get a person of Coach Hemmerly’s qualifications on our staff. His experience at all levels of rowing fit the profile we were looking for,” Reischman said. “He has consistently put himself in positions to improve his skill and knowledge of the sport and that type of passion will fit in well with both our Men's and Women's coaching staffs.”

While at Williams, Hemmerly won two NCAA National Championships as an assistant under current Syracuse University women’s head coach Justin Moore and a third NCAA National Championships as the interim head coach in 2011. He was named the New England Small College Athletic Conference Co-Coach of the Year in 2011. Hemmerly also helped lead Williams to three ECAC and New England Championships.

"I am very excited to have the opportunity to work in such a successful and historic program as Syracuse University,” Hemmerly said. “Coach Reischman's philosophy for the program and the cooperation happening in the whole Syracuse Athletic Department is one that I really believe in and am excited to be joining."

In addition to coaching at Williams, Hemmerly spent a portion of the 2010 and 2011 summers as an assistant coach at the US Rowing Junior Women’s Development Camp. The goal of the US camp was teaching basic boat moving skills and giving the developing young athletes important information to aid their improvement throughout the coming year.

Prior to arriving at Williams, Hemmerly was an assistant coach with the women’s club program at his alma mater, Ohio State University, for three years. He led the novice crews to podium finishes at every major regatta and finished his final season at OSU by leading the women’s varsity eight to gold at the inaugural ACRA Championship.

During his tenure at OSU, his crews not only won medals at SIRA, Dad Vails, and ACRA, they also won the 2007 Dad Vail Women’s Team Championship and the 2008 ACRA Women’s Team Championship.

As a rower at Ohio State, Hemmerly was elected captain an unprecedented three times, raced in the varsity eight, and was awarded the "Scarlet and Grey Award,” which is presented to the oarsman who inspires teammates and never loses sight of the fact that success is dependent upon the unity and commitment of the team.

Hemmerly is a 2007 graduate of Ohio State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Bled Bound!

2011-08-04T11:16:00.004-04:00

Huge congratulations and good wishes go out to Justin Stangel and his pair partner Tom Peszek who will be repping the USA at the World Championships in Bled later this month - rowing the Men's 2-.

Go Justin!

Gennaro Awesomeness

2011-08-02T08:54:00.001-04:00

Check out our guy in the stroke seat during this gold medal final in Amsterdam for the U-23s. Total fabulousness.

Alumni Connections

2011-08-02T06:30:00.003-04:00

The SARA connections are working away this summer and have resulted in some recent hardware. This from Joan Lentini at the Queensbury Rowing Center:

Just wanted to pass along this photo and info on two Syracuse Rowing Alumni who got together over the weekend to compete in the Quaker City Regatta in Philadelphia, PA, July 30, 2011.

Dr. Peter Hilgartner, '84 and Lindsay Lentini, '08 rowed together for the first time, competing in a Mixed Double at the Quaker City Regatta. The two placed 3rd rowing for the Queensbury Rowing Center in Queensbury, NY.

Mike Gennaro wins Gold Medal at U23 World Championships

2011-07-24T09:16:00.003-04:00

Syracuse Men's Crew Captain of the 2010-2011 season, Mike Gennaro, stroked the USA U23 M8+ to a gold medal finish. The USA Men's 8+ took gold in the grand final beating the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands and in the process setting a new World U23 record time of 5:24.31. Congratulations Mike!

Heats start today for Mike Gennaro and the U-23 Men's 8+

2011-07-21T06:39:00.001-04:00

story courtesy of Syracuse Athletics

Former Syracuse University men’s rower Mike Gennaro was selected to the Under 23 USRowing National Team for the third consecutive year. Gennaro will represent the United States and storke the men’s eight crew at the 2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships scheduled for July 21-24 in Amsterdam.

Genarro is eight medalists returning from the 2010 U23 squad. He won silver in both the men’s eight in 2010 and straight four in 2009. During his four-year career at Syracuse Gennaro helped the Orange varsity eight to a sixth-place, eighth-place and ninth-place showing the IRA Regatta his sophomore, junior and year years.

Racing begins on Thursday, July 21, with heats. Finals will be held on Saturday and Sunday, July 23-24.

Men’s Eight (M8+)
Anthony Altimari (c) 6/12/1989 5’8” 115 Huntington, N.Y. University of Wisconsin
Michael Gennaro (s) 3/11/1989 6’3” 196 Havertown, Pa. Syracuse University
Dariush Aghai (7) 5/15/1990 6’2” 170 Skokie, Ill. Mendota RC
Thomas Dethlefs (6) 5/6/1990 6’6” 200 Lawrenceville, N.J. Yale University
Robert Otto (5) 3/1/1989 6’7” 195 Seattle, Wash. Varsity Boat Club
Austin Hack (4) 5/17/1992 6’8” 212 Old Lyme, Conn. Stanford University
Robert Munn (3) 7/26/1990 6’4” 205 Redmond, Wash. University of Washington
Christopher Yeager (2) 10/24/1989 6’6” 200 Berkeley, Calif. University of California
Alexander Bunkers (b) 4/17/1991 6’4” 185 Maitland, Fla. University of Washington

Photos from The Prouty

2011-07-13T12:45:00.003-04:00

Many thanks to SU Alum Tyson Bry's mother Sharon who sent along photos from the past weekend's Prouty fundraiser as well as this message:

Here are pictures of Clai White, Tyson Bry , Bob Heinz(a Dartmouth alumni), Noah Chase, Jaimie Hubbell, James Ladio, John Combs, Mark Vyzas, Ryan Armstrong. Missing is Brian Azeff (who was present but could not row), and Ryan Knapp (who was ill).

This Syracuse Alumni rowed 20 miles on Saturday July 9th for the Prouty and raised $3,700 in total! They had significant blisters on their hands when they were done but they were in great spirits! It was amazing seeing them all row again and for such a great cause.

Bartosz Szczyrba 1982-2011

2011-07-11T13:27:00.011-04:00

Alums Mobilize for Cancer Fundraiser

2011-07-05T20:49:00.004-04:00

This Saturday, July 9, SU Alums Noah Chase, Ryan Armstrong, John Combs, Jaimie Hubbell, Clai White, Mark Vyzas, Ryan Knapp, Brain Azeff, James Ladio, and Tyson Bry will participate in a 10-mile fundraising row as part of "The Prouty" on the Connecticut River. This event will benefit the cancer treatment center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH.

These great and generous guys have mobilized themselves to support the Bry family. Tyson's Dad Brian was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2009 and is receiving treatment at the Center.

Others wishing to participate or donate can do so by clicking here.

Anna Goodale Retires from Competitive Rowing

2011-07-01T14:02:00.003-04:00

Story by Mike Lowe, Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME)
Photo from Maine Today.

Anna Goodale has never given anything less than 100 percent to any of her many endeavors.

That's why she has retired from competitive rowing.

Goodale, the Camden native who was a member of the gold-medal winning women's eight crew in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, retired from the sport after helping the U.S. win a fifth consecutive world championship last November in New Zealand.

Instead of returning to New Jersey to continue training after the championships, Goodale stayed in New Zealand for eight months. That time away merely confirmed her decision to step away.

"I decided that I had a great run and that I am ready for whatever is next in my life," said Goodale in a phone interview Thursday. "It got to the point where I started dreaming so much about my future, I wasn't 100 percent into rowing.

"I know enough about the sport and how much it takes to do it. It would have been extraordinarily difficult to continue with the team if I was not in it 100 percent. So I retired."

The 28-year-old Goodale is moving to Cuenca, Ecuador, to live with her father, Nat, and his family. Goodale will work at a cross-fit gym as a trainer.

"I'm very excited," she said. "It's the new rage in workouts. It's less of a gym and more of a philosophy.

"It makes you fit for life so that anything you think you want to do, you'll be able to do because you are so prepared.

"It's a very well-rounded approach to working out. And I think it's cool that I'm going to go from being coached my whole life as an athlete to thinking, 'How do I explain this? How do I share my experiences and know-how?'"

Goodale said her time in New Zealand, where she lived in a van and worked at a winery, put everything in perspective.

Still, she called it "the hardest decision I've ever had to make." But she realized it was the right decision when she got together with the team about a month ago in New Jersey and didn't waver.

"The hardest part about this transition was leaving my girls, my teammates, and feeling a responsibility to continue and be there," said Goodale. "When I cried, it was when I thought about telling them. That was the hardest part.

"The cool thing is they are my family, some of the best friends I've ever made, and I will always be in contact with them."

Tom Terhaar, the coach of the national women's eight, was unavailable for comment.

Goodale is looking forward to her new job and continuing her artwork. Goodale has illustrated a children's book, "Wren's Summer Day" by Matthew Stevens, and is working on another book.

While she doesn't anticipate returning to the national program, she added, "I will never say never."

"Rowing has been my passion for the last 10 years; I absolutely love it," she said. "I always said I would be rowing until my mind, my body or my heart doesn't want to do it.

"The reason I came back after 2008 is that I believed I had more in me. But this year it wasn't where my heart was and my head wasn't in it. It's so hard to do when you don't have those three components working together.

"Right now I can't imagine coming back, but you never know. I will certainly be involved with rowing the rest of my life. I've done some amazing things and I can't wait to give back to the sport that has given me so much."

Stangel Avances at Henley

2011-06-30T11:37:00.001-04:00

(excerpt from www.row2k.com)

Racing started in the Silver Goblets and Nickalls Challenge Cup today as well, where Justin Stangel and Tom Peszek of the US had an early challenge against the Aguirregomezcorta brothers from Spain, but pulled ahead with two lengths at Remenham, lowering rating and settling to finish the race ahead. US team may have won the race, but the for those of you keeping track at home, the Aguirregomezcorta brothers would win on Scrabble points 62-29 . . . and the only reason why the US duo gets 29 is because Tom Peszek has that "Z" in his name.

Stangel has made his mark with the US team partially in the grueling pair-with event, rowing bow in the US coxed pair in 2010. A Wisconsin native who rowed at Syracuse, Stangel has won at Henley before: in the Visitor's Challenge Plate while getting his masters at Oxford. His pair partner Peszek was stroke of the US Eight last year at Karipiro and rowed at Michigan. We'll get more about these US guys from Coach Tim McLaren for next report, stay tuned.

Pre-Elite Camp in Syracuse: Small Boats, Big Ambition, Bananagrams

2011-06-22T08:31:00.029-04:00

He is driving a coaching launch, trailing three double sculls up the Seneca River. A mile or so away his assistant is with four pairs heading out onto Onondaga Lake. It is late morning – the last morning of spring.

The sun is shining, it’s about 80 degrees with a light breeze, the water is flat and it’s been this way pretty much every day for the past week or so.

Justin Moore places his tongue firmly in his cheek and asks this question: “Why would anybody want to have a camp here?”

He’s got one – the 2011 United States Women’s National Team Pre-Elite Camp. The women are deemed not quite ready for the Under23 Camp going on in Princeton, but with enough talent and potential to be eventually make it there or to another national team

They represent Yale, Harvard (Radcliffe), Stanford, Virginia, Cornell, Columbia, Notre Dame, Washington State, George Washington, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Syracuse.

Moore, who built a Division III dynasty in women’s rowing at Williams College has just finished his first year of trying to bring Syracuse University’s Women’s team back to NCAA caliber. Having an event such as this here adds to credibility for the program and helps put a spotlight on the area as a rowing and training venue.

“The pre-elite camp’s goal is to take some of the best collegiate athletes we have in the country and help them to understand how to train as national team athletes,” Moore says. “It’s a month living the life of a national team athlete.”

Hard Work

The women who’ve come are ambitious.

"I hope that one day I am in the national camp and making my way to the Olympics,” says Molly Bruggeman of Notre Dame. “It’s always been a dream of mine.”

They’ve already banged heads on this morning launching at eight o’clock and racing in pairs and doubles along the buoy line out on the lake.

“Every single fight is a knockdown, drag-out fight and it’s fun every step of the way,” says Brandy Herald of the University of Virginia.

They’ll go out for a technical rowing session at about 11:15 and then go up on campus in the afternoon for erging, or running. Three sessions a day, six days a week. A month of training and instruction.

“I’d say there’s a fair amount of work going on,” understates Cornell’s Leigh Archer.

“It’s been really intensive,” says Syracuse’s Gina Biascochea. She’ll be a junior in the fall, having fought through injuries this year and rowed in the second varsity “(It’s) tough, but worth it,” she sighs.

Camaraderie and Competition

In between the morning rows, while Moore goes over video of the morning’s racing with two rowers in his office, most of the rest loll in the shade in front of the boathouse. Some read. Some just rest.

Syracuse’s Rachael Ogundiran and three others engage in a competitive game of Bananagram – a slightly offbeat version of scrabble. Ogundiran wins.
“Hah!” she exclaims. “My competitive nature has never left me,” she tells a reporter.

After three years in SU’s varsity boat, Ogundiran, the team captain, was slowed by fractured ribs in this, her senior year and wound up in the second varsity. Although she’ll be too old for U23 next year, coaches saw enough potential to bring her here and give her intensive sculling practice in hopes she can make a senior team.

“I want to go as far as I can possibly go,” she says. “I hope to go to a senior rowing center, continue with my training and see how far it will take me.”
If not, with a degree in bioengineering and minors in electrical engineering and math, she’s looking at Medical School.

While Ogundiran is being interviewed -- Jim Herald takes her spot in the game of Bananagram. He’s a lawyer with the Army Corps of Engineers who’s come from Oregon to visit with his daughter, Brandy for a day or two.

“I’m here because I’m hoping to make U23 next year,” Brandy Herald says. “I’m learning a lot and having a blast doing it.”

As the rowers take it easy, Wisconsin coxswain Kendall Schmidt springs through a workout with TRX bands – suspension training the rowers use to loosen up when they come off the water after a hard workout. Sometimes, she goes for a run.

“I try to keep pushing myself so I know when you hit that point where you can’t go any further, and knowing that, when I’m in the boat I can tell them that they can,” she says.

“For the coxswains it’s just great to be able to understand more clearly what (the coaches) are looking for and what we need to be teaching on the water,” says Allison Todd, the other cox in camp. She followed her sister Kate as varsity cox for Syracuse and will be a senior in the fall.

Show and Tell

Before they go out, with the campers gathered around, Moore plants himself on an erg and demonstrates what he calls “Quarter Moores” – pause a quarter of the way short of the catch – to get the full effect of each stroke.

He bangs out several examples of doing it wrong and then doing it right – enough to get just a little out of breath. Later in the day Moore will run three-and-a-half miles at a 6:12 pace in the Chase Corporate Challenge. He claims to be taking it easy as he powers away at the erg.

“Watch my hips and knees,” he tells them. “Lehhhhhhh-verage!” They get it. They troop down the boathouse stairs to launch their boats and try it out for themselves.

Back on the Water

Later – in the launch – Schmidt, the Wisconsin cox takes notes as Moore explains what he is going for in his drills and his instructions to the scullers.

“Let’s make sure you use your hands well.” He speaks a language everybody involved understands. “Lightly on the feet. Roll to cover.” He is encouraging and enthusiastic.

“Yes!” he calls out. “Feel the difference?”

“Too many people over-drill,” he tells Schmidt. “The ultimate thing is can we do this at speed?”

Moore has coached some of these women before. Notre Dame’s Molly Bruggeman is one whom he coached in juniors. “He’s a great coach,” she says. “Syracuse is lucky to have him. I pretty much know how he coaches and it’s been helpful in my improvement.”

And those who’ve had only one coach in college, such as Cornell’s Leigh Archer, say fresh eyes can make a difference. “Someone who hasn’t seen you and can point out things that the other coach might have gotten used to seeing,” she says.

Twice a week the rowers get into an eight and the scullers into a quad.

They’ll compete that way at the USRowing Club National Championships in Indianapolis, July 13-17after stopping at Princeton for the U23 coaches to have a look at their progress.

But the main emphasis is on small boats – single and double sculls and pairs.

Hospitality and Making New Friends

Most of the athletes are staying with local families while they are here at no cost.

“In the local Liverpool and Syracuse community we’ve got a great outpouring of support and the women are really enjoying being in their homes,” Moore says.

People from Cazenovia hosted a “meet and greet” the opening week. Lizzy McDermott, who rows for Yale is from Cazenovia and says being part of this mix of athletes has been quite an experience.

“It’s been great to be surrounded by a bunch of very tall strong women all of whom are amazing rowers,” she says. “They’re so nice and they’re so competitive and it’s just been a great environment.”

“It’s awesome,” says Allison Todd, the Syracuse coxswain. “A lot of new friends are being made.”

And it will translate, she says, to the Syracuse crew.

“Just taking everything in from all the different rowers and what they’re bringing in and what they have to offer and then bringing that back to our respective teams is going to be great. It’s going to make everything a lot more exciting in the fall.”

Progress

Finished for now with the scullers, Moore heads out toward the lake to greet his assistant in this camp, Shawn Bagnall, who is the SU men’s team assistant coach. They swap off on working with the rowers and the scullers each day and they exchange notes.

“It’s going tremendously well,” Moore says. “We see the progress taking place already. We see that the women are learning and adapting to the stresses of the training. They’re also really responding well to the competitive environment.”

The women have already given Bagnall a nickname – Big Red. It must be the hair. They seem to like him too.

“They’re both great guys, “Virginia’s Brandy Herald says. “They’re really easy to get along with, easy to understand and they just make it a really good experience and they keep it really competitive.”

During this session Moore and his boats have encountered exactly one other boat, a big cabin cruiser that slowed considerably as it passed, earning Moore’s thanks through his bullhorn. Along the way he exchanged greetings with a couple on the dock behind their riverside home.

He has a single word to describe the conditions in these first ten days; “unbelievable.”

The sun sparkles on the water as the women dock and then put away the boats and oars.

“They are some of the best conditions. I think, rowing-wise,” says Notre Dame’s Molly Bruggeman. “Here it’s very flat all the time. It’s very nice.”

Yeah, why WOULD anybody want to have a camp here? Justin Moore is hoping the answer will become very plain…and that this is just a beginning.

For video and interviews courtesy of suathletics.com click here.
Also in camp: Courtney Diekema - Harvard (Radcliffe), Anna Kaminski - George Washington University, Erika Lauderdale - Tennessee, Erin Radigan - Stanford, Samantha Warren - Columbia, Dara Dixon - Yale,
Maggie McCrudden - Syracuse, and Corinna Sharick - Washington State.

Liz Hartwig of Princeton was expected to join after competing with her team at Henley.

Coach "Wisdom Keeper" Bill Sanford

2011-06-10T08:26:00.006-04:00

Story reprinted from the Syracuse Post-Standard.
Photo pilfered of Kris Sanford-Milburn's Facebook page.

Note all the SARA family in this photo: Coach Dave Reischman, Lynne Pascale, Joey and Jan Peter, Paul and Lorraine Dudzick, Don Plath...who am I missing?

Liverpool, NY -- Bill Sanford grabs a cup of coffee and folds himself (he’s 6-7) into a comfortable chair at Ophelia’s Place, a Liverpool coffee shop operated by a non-profit that Sanford once helped advise.

We’re there to reconnect. Bill’s up for a big honor: he’s been picked for a Wisdom Keeper award by F.O.C.U.S Greater Syracuse Inc. on June 9. Bill’s got wisdom to spare.

He’s retired after a very successful career as SU’s head rowing coach. He’s also been a county legislator, and chairman of the legislature. He served a term in the state Assembly, too. The list of organizations he’s been involved with, and his awards, is impressive. He founded a small dynasty of rowers. He says his greatest accomplishment was founding of the Syracuse Chargers.

Bill started the Chargers, which puts inner city kids into rowing, swimming and track, with two fellow athletes, Jon Buzzard and Al Bonney. The Chargers are still going strong after close to 40 years.

At 72, Bill’s still stands out in a crowd and is reasonably fit, for his age. He gave up rowing two years ago. He says he works out at a local gym with a trainer six days a week, specializing on weights and cardio exercises.

He focuses on a passage by George Bernard Shaw, from “Man and Superman,’’ that sums up his commitment to our community: “I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.”

Bill’s says his mother, Eva, inspired him with her good works in the neighborhood south of downtown Syracuse where he grew up at West Brighton Avenue and Cannon Street “near the butcher shop.” Among other charities Eva collected from neighbors for the “Red Feather” drives of the Community Chest, forerunner of United Way.

The Sanfords raised five boys in Bill’s grandfather’s eight-room house. Grandpa - Eva’s father - was Gardner Compson, a farmer’s son from Seneca County. Bill says Gardner was one of the laborers who “dug the pipeline” that first brought Skaneateles Lake water to Syracuse, in 1893.

Bill graduated from Central High in 1956, where he played basketball. He also played ball in the Army, where he served two years after graduation, and at SU, in his first year. He tells the story of walking on the campus with his brother, Scott, when someone noticed how tall they were.

“Why don’t you try crew?” the guy asked.

“What’s crew?” Bill replied.

He found out.

Bill and other family members made careers of rowing. He rowed himself and coached championship boats. He was first SU’s freshman crew coach, then head varsity coach, starting in 1967. He retired in 2002, after 39 years.

Bill shows me a chart labeled “The Sanfords: First Family of Hudson Valley Rowing,” with 10 boxes for family members who participated in what Bill calls “the champagne of sports.”

This chart of the Sanford rowing dynasty includes Bill, and his brothers: Scott, Paul, and David, as well as daughters, Kris, Jen and Shawn, and nephews and nieces, Tom, Jody, and Christopher. Brother Ted did not row or coach. Brothers David and Scott have died. Scott also had a career as a rowing coach.

Daughter Shawn was SU’s first female coxswain; Jen is coach of the University of Connecticut crew; Kris was SU’s head women’s crew coach for 20 years. She’s now, at 44, enrolled in the St. Joseph’s Hospital nursing school.

“I’ve had quite a run,” Bill says. “There’s never been anyone luckier than me.”
He coached crew at the same time he was an active Republican politician. When he finally was defeated for his state Assembly seat by Democrat Joan Christensen in 2003, he says he realized he’d been putting in 80 to 90-hour weeks.

He started on the county legislature in 1980. He retired in 2002 as chairman. I’m told by someone who watched Bill during his years in the legislature: “He was more successful as a coach. He couldn’t always get everyone in the boat to pull their oars at the same time” at the county leg.

In 2002, he started Brown and Sanford Consultants with former state legislator Hal Brown. It’s a communications company that works on various community projects, including the dispute over the Camillus landfill site and the Onondaga Lake clean-up. Brown’s left the firm, replaced by Craig Milburn, Bill’s son-in-law. They have an office in Liverpool.

Along with creation of the OCC’s Applied Technology Center, the central county library, Justice Center and convention center, Bill’s counts the cleanup of Onondaga Lake as a major accomplishment of his life as politician.

Honeywell, successor of Solvay Process, is set to begin dredging Onondaga Lake in 2112. That will run four years. Then, Onondaga Lake, Bill predicts, will be a “clean, reliable lake,” sparkling with resorts, marinas and edible fish.

This would be quite a change from his lifetime as a crew coach, when he put in “more than 85,000 miles on that lake,” often pushing his crews though the “brown, polluted water.”

The Sanfords lived in the Syracuse University boathouse on the Seneca River outlet during his years as crew coach. They now live in Liverpool village. He regrets loss of the International Regattas that used to open the summer for Central New Yorkers.

The meets had to move from Onondaga Lake in 1991 due to flooding and now work under a different schedule of alternating sites. Our lake is unlikely to be one of them. “It will never be the same,” Bill says, with a sigh.

Bill and Nancy Sanford have been married 49 years. They met in Kirk Park, when both were neighborhood kids. “She was my high school sweetheart,” Bill says.

He’s still in touch the rowing. Their house overlooks Onondaga Lake. “I can hear the coxswains working our their teams,” Bill says, wistfully.

SU Alum Honored

2011-06-09T09:01:00.004-04:00

Many thanks to Joe Kieffer for bringing this to our attention. This article is from Mainline Media News (Philadelphia, PA). Joe notes that Craig's crew has won the “Kieffer Trophy” for the last five years at the Philadelphia City Championship.

Malvern Prep Rowing Coach Craig Hoffman was one of eight inductees honored by the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in a recent ceremony at the Broad Street museum. Hoffman was introduced by Comcast sportscaster Michael Barkann.

In 1997, Hoffman was named head rowing coach at Malvern Prep where his teams were victorious in 26 Scholastic and US Rowing Championships, 32 Philadelphia City Rowing championships and 11 Stotesbury Championships.

In 2009, the Friars achieved the distinction of winning Gold in the Varsity Quad, JV Quad and Freshman Quad at the Stotesbury Regatta.More than 60 of Hoffman's rowers at Malvern have gone on to row in Division 1 programs at a variety of prestigious universities.

The mission of the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Adolph and Rose Levis Museum is to provide the community with tangible and lasting evidence of the past, present and future of Jewish sportsmen and sportswomen in our area and to instill community pride in Jewish accomplishments in the field of sports and the role sports has played in preserving Jewish culture.

IRA Ends in Petites for SU Varsity Crews

2011-06-06T15:21:00.002-04:00

You know the end of the season is coming all along, but somehow when it arrives, it seems sudden. So it is for the Syracuse men’s crew team, which finished top ten in both the varsity and JV eights at the IRA.

Coach Dave Reischman’s varsity came in as the seven-seed, off a fifth place finish at the Eastern Sprints. The JV was seeded fifth, having taken bronze in the Sprints Grand Final.

In the end, both finished ninth – third in the Petite Finals in Camden. The frosh were third in the third level and the V4 was sixth in the petite.

“Doing well at the IRA for all but the 2 or 3 crews at the top is about getting on a roll and getting the right draw and the right lane at the right time,” Reischman said in an email to SU Crew supporters. “I thought we raced hard all weekend but just couldn't seem to get the break we needed to get over the hump. That is boat racing though and you take the good with the bad.”

Friday Semi-finals – Varsity 5th; JV Just Misses

To get to the Grand Final, the Orange Varsity Eight had to beat a crew it hadn’t beaten this season – California or Princeton or Brown AND get past Cornell. Neither happened and the Orange wound up fifth, just behind the Big Red. Cal, Brown and Princeton moved on to the Grand Final and SU was set up for its fourth race in three days with Cornell in the Petites.

“The guys felt they didn't leave any bullets in the gun and left it all out on the water,” Coach Dave Reischman said in a Friday night email.

For the JV, it was heart-breakingly close and again it was the Big Red doing the heart-breaking, by half a second. With Washington and California in front, Cornell grabbed the third GF spot. The Orange JV was just about a length out of first.

“We executed everything exactly the way we wanted and did a nice job of fighting back,” Reischman said. “We just ran out of race course.”

The Varsity four wound up last in its semi and also moved on to the Petite Finals

Times here courtesy of row2k.com.

Saturday Petites

The Orange and Big Red varsity eights met six times this season. SU won the first two. Cornell took the rest. For the fourth time in three days, the Big Red held off the Orange and this time won the Petite Final at the IRA. Stanford was second with SU just behind. The difference between Cornell and SU – a second-and-a half – a quarter of second between the Cardinal and the Orange. Yale was fourth.

The JV also wound up third, behind Yale, which won it wire-to-wire, and Brown. Syracuse rowed through BU in the sprint to finish in third.

The Varsity four with cox wound up last in the Petite.

Times here courtesy of row2k.com

IRA Photos

2011-06-04T19:47:00.003-04:00

I'll let John Nicholson and Coach Reischman do the write up on the racing, but here are some images of the 2011 IRA Regatta for your enjoyment.

Thanks to all the SU Coaches for a great season.

Varsity Eight- 22 Hours to Find More Speed

2011-06-02T18:57:00.002-04:00

Syracuse's Varsity eight finds itself in a spot that seemed likely all season long - having to finish in the top three among six very tough crews to make a repeat trip to the IRA Grand Final.

After hanging onto the third spot in this afternoon's 2:15 repechage, the Orange is scheduled for semi-final number one at 12:15 Friday. The SU crew is set for the outside - lane six - and up against its Goes Cups foes, Cornell in lane five and Navy in lane one, plus two seed California, four-seed Princeton and six-seed Brown.

After two earlier losses to SU, the Big Red beat the Orange twice on Thursday - by seven seconds in the morning and by less than a second-and-a half in the afternoon. Brown was well ahead of SU in the morning heat and went right through the semis. Cal is...well...Cal and SU has not caught Princeton yet this season. So - as Coach Dave Reischman noted a week or so ago, SU needs to find more speed. And the clock is ticking.

JV Gets Goes Cup Opponents Again, Plus

The Orange second eight goes up against Cornell and Navy in its heat as well, along with Washington and California and Boston University.

SU was second in the morning heat Thursday and moved straight to the semifinal. It's scheduled at 11:45.

V4+ Leads Off: Frosh Will Wait

The Orange Varsity four is in the first heavyweight semi of the day at ten o'clock, and takes on Wisconsin, Washington, Drexel, Temple and Georgetown. The frosh fell to the third level and will race again Saturday against Wisconsin, Penn, Yale and Gonzaga.

Orange Does What It Has To; Gets to Semis

2011-06-02T14:23:00.003-04:00

SU's varsity eight jumped out to a lead in this afternoons' IRA repechage but the Big Red of Cornell rowed through them and battled Yale to the finish, edging the Eli by a second with the charging Orange another half second behind. The Orange held off BU without too much difficulty and the third place spot gets it into the upper level semifinals on Friday.

Cornell 5:36.457
Yale 5:37.453
SU 5:37.912
BU 5:38.881
Dartmouth 5:48.166
UCSD 6:00.261

Stanford, Navy and Georgtown advanced to the upper level semis through repechage #1.

Tough Rep for SU Frosh

The Orange freshmen couldn't find what they needed this afternoon and wound up fifth in the repechage, falling to the third level final. Boston University walked away with the rep, with surprising Columbia and Dartmouth bettling for second. The Lions took it and the Big Green also made the semis with the third place finish.

BU 5:44.476
Columbia 5:46.667
Dartmouth 5:47.638
Wisconsin 5:50.891
SU 5:55.349
Penn 6:01:784

V4+ Fights Off Bobble; Jumps to Semis

2011-06-02T10:56:00.003-04:00

Syracuse's Varsity Four with cox had moved into a solid lead for the second qulifying spot this morning, when one or two of the oarsmen caught what the race announcer called "a digger" - not quite a crab, but a potential problem. Instead of faltering, the Orange took up the stroke and BU was not able to capitalize. Brown rowed away from the pack to win the heat, and SU took the second spot to earn the afternoon off and a straight shot to Friday's semifinal. Penn wound up taking third from BU by 9/100ths of a second.

Brown 6:14.553
SU 6:25.404
Penn 6:29.300
BU 6:29.393
Harvard 6:32.822

SU Varsity Faces Familiar Foes in Rep: Frosh Too

2011-06-02T10:21:00.003-04:00

Repechage #2 for Varsity Eights this afternoon looks a lot like a compilation of the Syracuse Season. After finishing fifth in the morning heat, the Orange will go against Cornell, Dartmouth, BU, Yale and UCSD. The top three move to the semi-finals.

Syracuse beat Cornell in Ithaca and again at the Eastern Sprints, but trailed the Big Red this morning. The Orange lost to BU at home and then defeated the Terriers in the Sprints. SU beat Dartmouth in Syracuse a couple of weeks ago.

SU is the top seed in the repechages at #7, but the fifth place finish this morning consigns the Orange to lane five. Cornell has lane three and Yale, lane four.

The rep is set for 2:15.

The freshman eight goes in repechage #2 at 3:00, up against Penn, Wisconsin, BU, Columbia and Dartmouth. Top three go to the semis - the rest to the third level. The Orange frosh lost to BU March 22 in a 1,000 meter race in awful conditions in Syracuse and beat Dartmouth eleven days ago also at home after beating the Big Green and Columbia in the petite finals of the Eastern Sprints the week before. Wisconsin finished ahead of the Orange in that petite.

Frosh 4th in Heat - Move to Repechage

2011-06-02T10:04:00.002-04:00

With Harvard out front and Navy battling Brown for second, the Orange frosh rowed home in fourth place in the morning heat, saving something for the afternoon repechage. Navy wound up holding off the Bruins by the blink of an eye.

Harvard 5:38.791
Navy 5:41.393
Brown 5:41.439
SU 5:59.224
UCSD 6:03.125
Dartmouth 6:13.333

JV Moves to Semis; Yale Suffers

2011-06-02T09:09:00.002-04:00

Syracuse's JV eight finished second to Harvard in this morning's second heat and moves directly to the Friday semi-finals. Harvard won the heat from start to finish and it looked as if Yale would be second and SU third, when Yale's shell lost it's steering and the Bulldogs had to stop. That allowed Dartmouth to grab the third qualifying spot and consigned Yale to the repechage.

Harvard 5:44.671
SU 5:49.588
Dartmouth 5:55.874
UCSD 6:17.995
Yale 7:09.836

V8 Trails in Morning Heat - Heads to Repechage

2011-06-02T08:23:00.004-04:00

Top-seed Washington blasted off the line and won the first morning heat at the IRA this morning, with six-seed Brown close behind to also move straight to the semi-finals. Seven-seed Syracuse never was really in it with the leaders, although the Orange did battle with #12 Stanford and #13 Cornell through the halfway point. SU wound up fifth in the heat. The SU time was considerably slower than what it is capable of in a tailwind, which is the condition today and Orange fans hope the plan became hanging onto some strength for the afternoon repechage.

Washington 5:32.251
Brown 5:33.726
Cornell 5:40.738
Stanford 5:42.949
SU 5:47.233
Gonzaga 6:06.276

All the favorites moved into the semis - Cal, Wisconsin, Harvard and Princeton joining Washington and Brown.

Heats Set for IRA - SU Leads Off in V8s

2011-05-31T19:13:00.002-04:00

Coach Dave Reischman’s Varsity Eight heads for the Cooper River with another date with a top seed looming, along with a third matchup with the Big Red of Cornell. Oh, and let’s not forget Brown, which finished just ahead of SU at the Sprints.

The Orange goes in as the seven seed and is slated to open the day’s racing Thursday morning at 8:00 against the number one Washington Huskies, #6 Brown, #12 Stanford, #13 Cornell and #18 Gonzaga. The Orange has beaten the Big Red twice this season, which, as usual, probably means nothing this time.

The seedings reflect the spots in the final coaches’ poll. See it here courtesy of row2k.com. Sprints winner Harvard is seeded third and tops in heat three. Princeton, which almost caught the Crimson in Worcester, will line up in the next lane, with the four seed.

Second-ranked California leads the seedings in heat two. The Golden Bears have lost only to Washington and hope to repeat what they pulled off a year ago, when they edged the Huskies for the IRA heavyweight title.
The top two in each heat advance to the semi-finals – the rest to the repechages, where the top two in each heat go to the upper tier of the semis on Friday.

JV’s Performance in Sprints Rates Five Seed.

SU’s JV eight impressed with its third place finish at the Eastern Sprints and faces off as the five seed against #2 Harvard, #8 Yale, #11 Dartmouth and #14 UCSD. That’s in the second JV heat scheduled at 9:00.

Top three in each heat go right to the semis. The rest to the repechages.

Frosh Go in as Number Eleven.

The freshman eight goes at 9:45 against #2 Harvard, #5 Navy, #8 Brown, #14 Dartmouth and #17 UCSD. Coach Shawn Bagnall’s group has shown steady improvement, and knocked off Dartmouth in its last race.

Top two go to the semis and the rest to the reps.

Varsity Four at the Top

There’s no coaches' poll for the fours, but the Orange goes in as a top seed, if not THE top seed, lining up in lane three for the first heat at 10:45. Joe DeLeo’s crew won at the Sprints, then demolished Dartmouth a week later in Syracuse. Other crews in the heat are BU, Penn. Harvard and Brown. With four heats in the V4s, the top two in each advance to the semis.

Complete schedule here courtesy of row2k.com

Dedicated Alum

2011-05-31T18:41:00.005-04:00

Not only has Mr. Peter helped to provide us with a number of shells (four to be exact) but every race we have been to during our time with the program Mr. Peter has without fail been there on shore waiting to say "Great Job!". So when we received these photos of Mr. Peter, candidly shot by a friend of the team, we couldn't help but share a laugh and take a moment to appreciate how dedicated an alum he really is. It's great to know we have such a dedicated alumni group, with individuals like Mr. Peter, rooting for us every stroke of the way during our journey with the team.

2011 INTERCOLLEGIATE ROWING ASSOCIATION NATIONALS (IRA) CHAMPIONSHIPS WEBCASTS

2011-05-31T08:56:00.002-04:00

The ECAC and Princeton University Men’s Rowing will be live video broadcasting the 2011 INTERCOLLEGIATE ROWING ASSOCIATION NATIONALS (IRA) CHAMPIONSHIPS. After a successful ‘BETA’ test with a two camera system at the EARC Sprints in Worcester on May 15th, a decision was made to move forward and expand coverage to an integrated four camera system for the IRA Championships. Two camera’s ‘on the water,’ a camera positioned atop the Camden County Boathouse, and a finish line camera, will provided wire to wire coverage of ALL racing June 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, from the Cooper River. This continues to be a work in progress; learning from the experience to broadcast “live” all three days of the 2011 IRA Championships we hope to extend the service to most if not all ECAC Affiliated Rowing Championships in 2012. Link to the webcast here: http://crew.princeton.edu/content/live_video

Listeners without web access may tune in to the IRA Championships via telephone connection at: (508) 534-7389

2011 IRA Broadcast Schedules:

Thursday, June 2, 2011
Heavyweight Men’s Heats: 8:00 AM-11:55 AM
Repechages: 2:00 PM-3:55 PM

Friday, June 3, 2011
Lightweight Women’s Heats: 8:30 AM -9:25 AM
Heavyweight Men’s Semifinals: 9:30 AM-12:40 PM
Lightweight Women’s Repechages: 12:45 PM-1:10 PM

Saturday, June 4, 2011
Alumni Race: 7:00 AM
Lightweight Men’s Heats: 7:20 AM-7:40 AM
All Finals: 7:45 AM-12:30 PM

Packard Cup Race Video

2011-05-23T13:24:00.005-04:00

All four races stroke-by-stroke plus interviews with Coach Reischman, bow-man Dan Berry and six-man Chris Bickford available here courtesy of suathletics.com - Orange AllAccess.

Video also includes trophy presentations, SARA plaque presentations to seniors and dedication of the Joseph E. Peter #4 shell, which the varsity eight rowed to the win over Dartmouth.

Orange Sweeps Over Big Green

2011-05-22T10:59:00.009-04:00

Dartmouth brought the hardware back to Syracuse this morning and the Orange crews made sure it will stay here for at least the next year, sweeping the Big Green on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Coach Dave Reischman’s Varsity eight jumped out to a deck lead off the start and steadily built to a length by the halfway point of the 2,000 meter race. While Dartmouth made a push with about 750 meters to go, SU held them off to win by about a length and bring the Packard Cup home after a loss at Hanover last year.

Rowing with a slight tailwind in flat conditions, SU covered the course in 5:37.7 with Dartmouth finishing in 5:40.5

JV Comes from Behind to Beat Big Green

The JV fell behind an over-stroking Dartmouth crew in the early going, but kept calm and rowed through by the midway point, the just kept going to win by a length of open water.

SU 5:47.04 Dartmouth 5:53.98

Frosh Eight Starts Fast and Finishes Strong

Coach Shawn Bagnall’s frosh continued to show improvement, jetting out to a lead at the start and holding off any challenge the Big Green freshmen could offer.

The Orange won it by open water in 5:58.0 to Dartmouth’s 6:02.2

Four Plus Walks Away to Win

The Varsity four with cox had the easiest win of the day to complete the sweep. Senior Tim Daigle had moved up to stroke, swapping with Kyle Rogers dropping back to the two seat. Syracuse had at least a length off the start and wound up winning – as they say at Henley – easily.

SU 6:29.94. Dartmouth 6:51.19.

Seniors Honored

After the trophy presentations there were plaques for the graduating seniors on the team. SARA board members Jason Premo and Sheila Roock did the honors.

Joe Peter #4 Christened

The morning wrapped up with a dedication of the fourth shell named for Joe Peter ’69. Daughter Julie did the champagne pouring honors with Joe’s bride Jan and son John also on hand for the ceremony.

Packard Cup Broadcast Information

2011-05-20T11:06:00.014-04:00

Men’s Rowing – Packard Cup –Onondaga Lake, Liverpool, NY
Syracuse University vs. Dartmouth College
Sunday, May 22, 2011

Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association (SARA) is excited to provide live audio broadcasting of this home race. 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 today’s regatta schedule.

In addition to the audio broadcast, SU Athletics will be doing a live-to-tape for Orange All-Access. This will involve a camera in the referee launch, another at the finish line and a “lipstick cam” on the coxswain’s hat - probably Varsity only. John Nicholson will be interviewing our coaches and athletes after the racing and the entire day will be edited, packaged, and posted within a couple of hours. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.

Via Phone / Conference Line :
(712) 432-1496 4861# - you can bypass announcing your name by pressing #
Via Internet: No internet connection

Race Schedule:
8 a.m. - Varsity Eight
8:20 a.m. - Second Varsity Eight
8:40 a.m. - Freshman Eight
9 a.m. - Third Varsity four
9:20 a.m. - Trophy Presentation
9:30 a.m. - Senior Presentation
9:40 a.m. - Joseph E. Peter Boat Dedication

Here is a printable flyer for the event. Please click on the image for a full-size version.

Second Lieutenant Daniel P. Berry

2011-05-19T09:20:00.005-04:00

On Saturday, May 14th, Orange oarsman, Dan Berry, graduated with his fellow seniors at a graduation ceremony held at the team's pre-Sprints dinner in Worcester. On Sunday, the Orange varsity bowman race in his final Eastern Sprints and helped the squad to a fifth place finish in the varsity race and 5th place finish in the team point standings. But on Monday, May 16th, he carried through on his biggest committment of the weekend--he was commissioned in the US Army as a Second Lieutenant. For the last four years Dan has balanced his time between academics, rowing, and being one of the top officer candidates in the Syracuse Army ROTC program. After the IRA, Dan will report to duty with the 326th Engineering Battalion in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Women's Sprints Photos

2011-05-18T22:12:00.002-04:00

Wow! Lots of photos from Women's Sprints! Check them out here.

1000m into the Endowment Campaign...

2011-05-17T12:24:00.006-04:00

A note from Joe Kieffer ('88) - SARA Treasurer and Endowment Chair

Here is a quick update on the SARA Endowment Campaign – ‘A Racing Start’ as of May 11 – 1,000 hours down - $11,450 in with 52 contributions.

Only one class group is still stuck on their stake boat – 1990 – 1994! The Class of ’65-’69 in on the attack having been passed by Class 1980 – 1984 in lead on dollars and pulled even recent grads from ’06 – ’10 with number of contributors. Some very good racing!! We have about 40 days left to the campaign – time to make your contribution and call your classmates on opening up their wallet. Campaign ends on June 21.

Click on https://mygiving.cnycf.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=399 and make your contribution now or make payable and mail your contributions to:

Central New York Community Foundation (CNYC Foundation)
Memo line: SARA Endowment
431 East Fayette Street, Suite 100
Syracuse, NY 13202
www.cnycf.org/sara

Marfilius Named Scholar-Athlete

2011-05-17T12:21:00.005-04:00

Men's Varsity Eight Coxswain Kenny Marfilius has been named SU Scholar-Athlete of the of Week for May 16-22.

The senior from Collingdale, Pa. joins teammates Mike Dietrick, a junior and senior Dan Berry in winning the award this academic year.

Story from suathletics.com here.

SU Women's Captain Rachel Ogundiran also has been honored this school year as SU Scholar-Athlete of the Week.

Stangel pair second at National Selection Regatta

2011-05-16T11:35:00.005-04:00

SU alum Justin Stangel and pair partner Tom Peszek finished a second-and-a-half behind the winner, taking second in this weekend's pair final in the Princeton Speed Orders aka the National Selection Regatta II.

This comes after the Stangel/Peszek pair's second in the first speed orders of the year last month.

Men's Eastern Sprints Photos

2011-05-15T22:14:00.003-04:00

Apologies in advance for some of the blurry ones. The rainy weather did not help either. These will be edited down the next few days...in the meantime, here is the full flight:

photos here

V8 Fifth; JV Takes Bronze at Sprints

2011-05-15T15:24:00.007-04:00

Coach Dave Reischman’s Varsity battled with the big boys at the Eastern Sprints, finishing fifth in the Grand Final and avenging an earlier loss to Boston University.
Harvard’s top-seeded Crimson completed a sweep with a length victory over Princeton, with Wisconsin, Brown, SU and BU following.

The six-seeded Orange rowed the race in the outside lane, as Harvard blew out to an early lead, gave it up for a few strokes to Brown and then steadily built the lead. Princeton and Wisconsin got by Brown in the last part of the race and all three were within a length of Harvard. SU was a length or so back, edging BU in sixth.

Harvard 5:40.38 Princeton 5:42.37 Wisconsin 5:42.50 Brown 5:43.59 SU 5:47.10 BU 5:48.75

JV Comes from Behind to Medal

Syracuse’s JV Eight rallied from last place halfway through the Grand Final and rowed into third place, holding off Princeton in the sprint for the first SU medal at the Eastern Sprints in ages. Harvard won the race, with Wisconsin a length back and then the Orange and Tigers charging right behind.

SU went in as the seven seed and may have given the impression early in the final that it was out of gas after the morning heat. No such thing. The Orange powered back with about 500 meters to go, rowing past Yale, Brown and Princeton and into third, just running out of water before catching the Badgers.

The Orangemen sat up and slapped hands when it was over. A celebration SU is hoping to see more of.

Harvard 5:49.13 Wisconsin 5: 52.52 SU 5:53. 18 Princeton 5:54.32 Brown 5:57.31 Yale 5:58.99

Men's Frosh 4th in Petites

The SU Frosh came into the EARC Sprints seeded tenth and that’s where they wound up, although Coach Shawn Bagnall’s eight gave it a fight in the Petite Finals, finishing half a length behind second place Wisconsin and less than a second behind third place Yale. Brown was the Petite winner.

Brown 6:02.40 Wisconsin 6:06.09 Yale 6:06.85 SU 6:07.71 Columbia 6:10.20 Dartmouth 6:13.09

Harvard’s frosh won the Grand Final easily, with Princeton taking silver and Northeastern bronze.

12-Seed SU Women Take Tenth in V8s at Sprints

2011-05-15T15:20:00.006-04:00

The SU Women’s Varsity Eight may very well have saved its best race for last, finishing two spots ahead of their seed at the EAWRC Sprints and just missing third in a bang-bang-bang battle with Penn and Rutgers in the last 20 strokes of the Petite Final.

Columbia won the race, grabbing a length with a huge move 500 meters in. Northeastern took second, with the Quakers, Orange and Scarlet Knights battling for third. SU seemed to have edged past Penn near the finish, but Penn wound up crossing the line first, then SU in fourth and Rutgers a beat behind, with Georgetown trailing.

Columbia 6:38.62 NE 6:42.91 Penn 6:48.54 SU 6:49.69 Rutgers 6:49.89 GU 6:56.02

The finish meets one of Coach Justin Moore's goals going in as the Orange finished two spots ahead of where it was seeded.

Princeton out-rowed Brown to take the Grand Final.

2V and V 4+ Fifth in Petites

The Second Varsity wound up fifth in its Petite Final, to take eleventh place overall.
Penn won it by a length over Northeastern, with Columbia in third, then Navy, the Orange and George Washington.

Penn 6:58.26 NE 7:01.74 COL 7:04.51 Navy 7:05.36 SU 7:09.10 GWU 7:19.19

The Orange women’s Varsity 4 + also finished fifth in the Petite Final of the EAWRC Sprints this afternoon, giving SU eleventh place overall. Navy edged Northeastern to win the race. Dartmouth was third, well behind, then BU, SU and Columbia.

SU went in seeded 12th, so the Orange women finished a spot higher than their seed.

Navy 7:36.04 NE 7:38.01 Dartmouth 752.25 BU 7:55.71 SU 8:00 .92 COL 8:03.98

V8, JV on to Grands

2011-05-15T08:52:00.010-04:00

Syracuse’s Varsity Eight got it done this morning, taking second behind top-seed Harvard and advancing to the Grand Final at the Eastern Sprints.

Rowing in the rain on Lake Quinsigamond, the Orange blasted off the line at 44 strokes-per minute, then settled at 36 for the body of the race. With Harvard taking the lead, the Orange moved out on Cornell little by little, holding a length at the 1,000 meter mark.

SU took it up to 38 in the sprint to close a bit on Harvard, which had the win safely tucked away. The Orange looked smooth and strong, with Cornell never able to challenge. Georgetown was fourth and Penn fifth.

Harvard 5:47.82 SU 5:50.86 Cornell 5:55.72 Georgetown 5:56.98 Penn 6:01.97

Syracuse goes against Harvard, Princeton, Wisconsin, BU and Brown in the Grand Final.

JV Takes Second - Moves to Grand Final

The Syracuse JV 8, over-stroking all the way,rowed its way into the Grand Finals this morning, taking second behind Harvard and beating Boston U easily. The Orange rowed the body of the race around 36 and ramped it up to 39 in the sprint, as Harvard, well ahead, hung onto its race pace of 34 to win by about a length.

Harvard 5:57.33 SU 5:59.74 BU 6:06.34 COL 6:15.20 GWU 6:21.40

The Orange go up against Harvard, Brown, Wisconsin, Princeton and Yale in the Grand Final.

Men's V4 Wins at Worcester

The Orange Varsity Four + won the first race of the day at the EARC Sprints, taking the lead over Northeastern off the start and steadily widening it to several lengths of open water. Harvard was third in this Grand Final race which included varsity and freshman fours. MIT and Holy Cross trailed.

SU 6:54.19 NE 7:01.89 Harvard 7:05.33 MIT 7:28.79 HC 7:42.3

Matt Cosman coxed it with Kyle Rogers at stroke, Jim Behr at three, Tim Daigle at two and Chip Keyes in the bow.

Frosh Fourth - Move on to Petites

The Orange Frosh advanced to the Petite Final with a fourth place finish in the morning heat. SU came off the start, close to Northeastern, which wound up winning the heat wire to wire. BU finished strong to take second and advance to the Grand Final.

Ten-seed SU held onto third through the midway point, but #9 Columbia moved through just after the halfway point and while the Orange kept it close, the Lions took third.

Holy Cross and Georgetown trailed.

NE 6:09.7 BU 6:10. 8 COL 6:17.1 SU 6:19.2 HC 6:26.6 GU 6:27.1

Women's V8 Qualifies for Petite Finals; Beats BU

2011-05-15T08:50:00.006-04:00

The Orange women V8 rowed to its seed in the opening heat at the EAWRC sprints his morning, taking fourth and advancing to the B-final. SU beat Boston University for the second straight time, consigning the Terriers to the third level final.

Top seed Princeton grabbed the lead off the start and cruised home, with Dartmouth taking second by a length over Columbia. The Lions move to the B-final along with SU which was several lengths behind.

Princeton 6:34.85 Dartmouth 6:39.62 Columbia 6:46.25 SU 7:00.87 BU7:05.57

The Orange go against Columbia, Penn, Rutgers, Northeastern and Georgetown in the Petite Final.

2V8, V4+ Take Third; Also Move to Petites

The Orange women second varsity and varsity four+ also advanced to the B-level final.

The 2V battled Columbia for third over the second half of the heat and held on by a tenth of a second! Both would qualify for the Petites. Yale and Radliffe moved to the Grand Final.

Yale 6:51.06 Radcliffe 7:00.55 SU 7:04.52 Columbia 7:04.66 Georgetown 7:14.84 MIT 7:33.45

The Orange will face Columbia, Penn, Northeastern, George Washington and Navy in the Petite Final

In the fours, the Orange fought Dartmouth down the stretch for third and wound up taking the Big Green by about a length, with both advancing to the Petites. Brown and Radcliffe were out ahead.

Brown 7:41.09 Radcliffe 7:46.49 SU 8:10.16 Dartmouth 8:13.57 Georgetown 8:17.09

In the Petite it will be SU, Dartmouth, Columbia, Northeastern, Navy and BU.

Men's Team Graduation

2011-05-14T19:57:00.005-04:00

After 4 years, a few hundred thousand strokes, and many hours (or not so many in some cases) of studying the class of 2011 has finally made it through college and have diplomas in hand. It was an evening spent with good friends and family and filled with some well deserved laughs and congratulations. Congratulations to the Senior Class of 2011, you guys will certainly be missed around the boathouse next year.

Seniors Class 2011

Diplomas in hand

Coach enjoying the speeches

It's been 4 years already?

Congratulations fellas

Men's Team on News Channel 3 CNY Central

2011-05-14T17:44:00.004-04:00

Full Story (click on link to see video with interviews)

Orange with Oars Making Their Mark

When you think of marque Syracuse Orange seniors from this past season, guys like Delone Carter and Rick Jackson might be the first to come to mind. But Jackson isn't the only hardworking senior from Philadelphia on the SU hill, just ask SU Rowing Head Coach Dave Reischman. Mike Gennaro, Kenny Merfeelius and the Berry brothers may not be household names in Syracuse, but the four seniors from philadelphia are looking to wrap up their senior season in style. And as they travel to Worcester, Massachusetts this weekend for the 2011 Eastern Sprints, they're reflecting back to the reason why they came to Syracuse in the first place. They had other options like Cal and Washington, two of the more successful rowing programs in the country, but they wanted to make their mark in Syracuse.

"They just sort of looked at each other and said you know what this is the place we want to be, recalls Reischman, "and we want to try and have an impact on a National level here."

"We wanted to come to a place that was on the rise," says Vince Berry, "that was on the border of being a really good competitive team, and push it over the top."

And their skills and hardworking mentality have rubbed off on the other rowers.

"I think a lot of the magic of this particular group is it's driven by four guys from Philadelphia," explains Reischman, "very blue collar kids. Kids that come from families that have strong work ethics. And the other seniors that have sort of fit into the group are cut from the same cloth."

A group of guys that don't seem to notice that it's the SU Basketball players and Football players who are getting all of the media coverage and hoopla.

"I just keep telling myself that that's not what I'm here for," explains Gennaro, "I didn't come to Syracuse to row and be the superstar of the city or school."

"If they're looking in the history books," explains Berry, "I want it to be like, a few years from now they're getting medals, consistently getting medals and then a couple years further they're getting gold medals and they're gonna look back a couple years and say those guys started it, those guys started it."

This weekend's races will go along way in helping SU's positioning at this year's Nationals. '

Story courtesy of CNYCentral.com, NBC 3, CBS5, CW6

Lineup Changes for Orange Men Heading to Worcester

2011-05-13T15:47:00.004-04:00

There have been some changes in the Orange crews, heading into this Sunday’s Eastern Sprints. SU has not raced since the tight loss to BU April 22 and Coach Dave Reischman has used the time to do some fine tuning.

Dan Berry is back in the Varsity Eight, in the bow seat, after spending some time in the JV. “He earned his seat back,” Reischman said. Dan joins twin brother, Vince who is now at three.

Coach Dave Reischman and Captain/Stroke Mike Gennaro after Goes Trophy Win at Cornell

Mike Gennaro and Chris Lutz remain at stroke-seven, but Reischman has moved his oarsmen about in the middle of the boat. In addition to Vince Berry moving down to three, Dan Turner is now at four, as Mike Dietrick moves up to the five seat and Chris Bickford to six. Ken Marfilius is the stalwart at cox.

Tyler Toporowksi is now at seven in the JV, behind Aidan Barrett at stroke. “Tyler is doing a great job for us,” Reischman said.

Nemanja Bogdanovic is at six, Mason Leasure at five, Brendan Murphy at four, Matt Hopeck at three, Steve Connors at two and Nick Pickard in the bow. Isaac Budmen remains the JV coxswain.

Click here for morning heats and lane assignments.

Looking ahead to Sunday, and a heat that puts the #6 Orange Varsity in lane two between top-seeded Harvard and #7 Cornell, Reischman offered this – “It would be a mistake to get caught up in what color jersey is in the lane next to you.”

Last year Dartmouth came from the 12-seed to win the heat over Brown, leaving SU out of the Grand Final. This year, Reischman says the top twelve probably are even faster and more tightly bunched. For the record, Georgetown is the 12-seed this year.

The way to handle things, he said is “going as fast as you can twice down the course and hoping the chips fall your way.”

Frosh Lineup

Cox: Liz Abraham, Stroke: Jake Martens, 7: Connor Finnegan, 6: Mac Zink, 5: Jack Donisch, 4: Stave Cauffman, 3: Matt France, 2: Jason Zjadel, Bow: Joe Piccirrilli

Varsity Four

Cox: Matt Cosman, Stroke: Kyle Rogers, 3: Jim Behr, 2: Tim Daigle, Bow: Chip Keyes

Video and Audio Coverage

EARC AND EAWRC SPRINTS WEBCASTS:
The ECAC and Princeton University Men’s Rowing will be Beta Testing live video broadcasting of the EARC Sprints in Worcester, MA Sunday, May 15, 2011. This is a work in progress, so we expect there will be some growing pains, but the goal is to learn enough from the experience to broadcast “live” all three days of the 2011 IRA Championships, and extend the service to the EAWRC, ECAC NIRC, ECAC MANE, and NERC Championships in 2012. Link to the Beta webcast here: http://crew.princeton.edu/content/live_video

The ECAC will be audio casting the EARC and EAWRC Sprints live on Sunday, May 15, 2011. You can access the broadcasts live on Stretchinternet.com via this link: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ecac.portal

In addition, listeners without web access may tune in to the EAWRC Sprints via telephone connection at: (508) 534-7389

Seat Shuffle for Orange Women Heading into Sprints

2011-05-13T14:01:00.003-04:00

The SU Women’s team is off to South Jersey for the Eastern Sprints this Sunday and Coach Justin Moore has done a little bit of juggling in his eights. The athletes are the same but some of their seats have changed.

The stern three remains the same in the V8, but Carmen Fallia moves up from three into the five seat, Maggie McCrudden from bow into three and Rebecca Soja goes from five into the bow seat. Allison Todd is the Coxswain.

Kerriann Miller is now the 2V stroke, moving up from the six-seat in the Big East Championships. Captain Rachel Ogundiran moves up from four to six. She missed the early part of the season with rib injuries. Ali Sayer from two to four and Emily Moomey, who stroked at the Big East takes over at two.

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

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

Varsity Four
C – Kristina Herb
S – Mary Carlson
3 – Ciara Shaneauer
2 – Jacque Lee
B –Laura Adams

The Orange Varsity goes in as the 12-seed, lining up at 8:40 against #13 BU, #7 Dartmouth, top seed Princeton and #6 Columbia. Top two go to the Grand Final with the next to advancing to the Petites.

The 2V heat is set at 9:30 with #10 SU against #15 Georgetown, #9 Columbia, #3 Yale, #4 Radcliffe and #16 MIT.

The 12-seed SU Varsity four goes at 9:45 against #13 Georgetown, #7 Radcliffe, #1 Brown and #6 Dartmouth.

Goals for the Weekend - and Beyond

One of the goals this weekend is "to send the seniors out with races that each of them can be proud of," Moore said in an email."There is one senior in the varsity boat, four in the 2V and one in the 4+. They have worked hard and we want to honor them with the best performance possible.

"The seniors must help the younger women on this team understand what is required to compete and perform at this level. We are currently seeded 12th in the 1V, 10th in the 2V and 12th in the 4+. We want to perform at or above our seeding. This will require that these young crews demonstrate poise under pressure and the ability to execute to the best of their abilities when it matters most.

"It is essential that we end this season headed in the correct direction,"Moore said. "I hope to never enter this regatta as a 12 seed again. While there is little we can about our immediate physical condition and technical ability, we have a great opportunity to work on our championship mentality and our ability to execute when it matters most.

One sign of progress in Coach Moore’s first season was the V8 beating BU a couple of weeks ago, after trailing the Terriers in the opening race of the season and again a few weeks later.

"In the varsity event, we are seeded 12th and BU is seeded 13th. They have beaten us twice this year, and we took them in the last go around. While we are not proud of the fact that we have to fight for the B final, this is the truth of where we are. This is our opportunity to compete.

"With good recruiting, better and more consistent training, we will be competing for higher and higher positioning at events like this and in the national polls."

Schedule and Coverage

Full schedule here courtesy of row2k.com

On-line audio coverage here

In addition, listeners without web access may tune in to the EAWRC Sprints via telephone connection at: (508) 534-7389

Sprints Seedings Hold - Orange Varsity in Morning Heat with Cornell, Harvard, G'town and Penn

2011-05-10T10:42:00.002-04:00

Final seedings are out for this Sunday's Eastern Sprints and the Orange Varsity Eight is at #6, setting up a rematch with #7 Cornell, along with top-seeded Harvard, #12 Georgetown and #13 Penn in the morning heat.
Top two go to the Grand Final.

The Orange JV goes in at #7 and will take on #1 Harvard, #6 BU, #12 George Washington and #13 Columbia. BU edged the Orange JV in Syracuse with Columbia far behind, when they raced April 22.

The Syracuse freshmen are seeded tenth. They'll face #3 BU, #4 Northeastern, #9 Columbia, #15 Georgetown and #16 Holy Cross.
BU won easily at Syracuse, with Columbia second, a couple of lengths ahead of the Orange frosh.

Poll courtesy of row2k.com

Orange, Big Red Look Headed for a Sprints Showdown Again

2011-05-08T17:33:00.005-04:00

When the Orange Varsity withstood a crab in the sprint and held off Cornell to regain the Goes Trophy, April 16 at Ithaca, both they and the Big Red knew they were likely to battle again, and soon. Now it appears their next face-off will be this Sunday morning at the Eastern Sprints in Worcester.

SU Coach Dave Reischman briefs Orange Varsity and JV before Goes Cup Races at Cornell, April 16

The latest EARC Seeding Poll has SU at #6 and the Big Red at #7. That would put both in the heat with top-seeded Harvard, #12 Georgetown and #13 Penn. The final seedings are due out this week.

Brown jumped over the Orange to #5 last week, losing by a couple of seconds to three- seed Princeton. All the EARC crews were idle this weekend, getting set for the Sprints.

The Orange crews have not raced since April 22, when Boston University edged the varsity eight by less than two seconds in rough conditions at Syracuse. The Big Red raced at Princeton the next day, trailing the Tigers by about a length.

Other Polls

Interestingly enough, without taking a stroke in competition, the Orange pulled even with Brown at #7 in the US Rowing/Coaches Poll two weeks ago, then moved into the seven spot alone this past week. Cornell now checks in at #9 with Washington up top, followed by California and Harvard.

The cMax Rankings also have Syracuse at #7, four-tenths of a second ahead of Brown and 2.1 ahead of 11th- ranked Cornell.

All of which boils down to what SU Basketball Coach Jim Boeheim might call “talk show talk,” if there were talk shows that focused on crew.

A year ago it looked as if all SU had to do to make the Grand Final was beat Northeastern. The Orange did that, but 12-seed Dartmouth came seemingly out of nowhere to win the heat and with Brown hanging on for second, SU wound up in the Petites – where they were edged by…Cornell. That SU varsity wound up in the Grand Final at the IRA.

JV, Frosh seedings

If the seeds hold, the Orange JV will line up as the seven seed, against #1 Harvard, #6 BU, #12 George Washington and #13 Columbia.

The SU freshman eight is seeded tenth, and would be in the heat with #3 BU, #4 Northeastern, #9 Columbia, #15 Georgetown and #16 Holy Cross.
In case you missed it - honors for team and team members

The Men’s Crew tied with cross country for team of the year at this year’s ‘Cuse Awards. Senior Vince Berry got the ‘Cuse Award for Men’s Rowing and Captain Rachael Ogundiran was the winner on the Women’s Team.

Polls courtesy of row2k.com

Chelsea Macpherson Off to the Big Apple...

2011-05-06T12:26:00.002-04:00

story and photo courtesy of SU Athletics

SYRACUSE – Senior rower Chelsea Macpherson received a Merit Scholarship to Columbia University where she will attend graduate school this upcoming fall. Macpherson will study for her doctorate in physical therapy and specialize in geriatrics. She recently sat in the sixth seat at the BIG EAST Championship on May 1 as the team placed fourth.

The Merit Scholarship is only offered to two applicants in the incoming class. It was awarded based on GPA, extra-curricular activities and work ethic.

“When I first went to the interview to go to Columbia, they told us there were very limited scholarships and told us to not plan on getting one. I worked very hard academically, but Columbia is a great school and I did not plan on getting a scholarship,” said Macpherson.

Her ambitions include going onto medical school after earning her degree in physical therapy with the intention of becoming a family doctor.

“[Geriatrics] is a large population that is going to need a lot of help and there is very little help for it,” said Macpherson. “I would also like a public health degree. I really like school,” she said.

The discipline and values developed from rowing have helped Macpherson in the classroom and will continue to do so as she makes the journey to New York City.

“That discipline of trying to get better also translates into the classroom. I am constantly trying to get better. Throughout my college career, I have consistently raised my GPA every semester. My efforts in the classroom are reflective of what I’ve learned from rowing,” she said.

When asked what she wants legacy at SU to be remembered as Macpherson mentioned her hard work.

“That is what I’ve strived to be during my career [a hard worker]. I really wanted to show you can overcome anything. You can really get fast, improve in academics. You can’t let things affect you. To see how far I’ve come because of hard work, I want to be remembered for it,” Macpherson said.

She missed part of the 2007 season due to a torn labrum, and the entire 2009-10 term with the same injury.

Head coach Justin Moore has been quoted saying that she has contributed to the team in both tangible and intangible ways.

“As the oldest member of such a young team, Macpherson leads by example,” said Moore.

750 meters - "A Racing Start" Endowment Campaign

2011-05-06T06:50:00.002-04:00

Here is a quick update on the SARA Endowment Campaign as of May 2 – 750 hours down - $4,650 in with 32 contributions. Four class year are still stuck on their stake boats!!!. Class of ’65-’69 has have extended their lead on dollars, while recent grads from ’06 – ’10 have surged ahead and lead the pack with number of contributors 250 ahead of their closest competition.

Photos from Boathouse Flooding

2011-05-02T12:03:00.007-04:00

Here are some photos from last week's boathouse flooding:

2011 Big East Championship

2011-05-01T20:02:00.002-04:00

story courtesy of SU Athletics

photo is from competition in Boston, MA.

WEST WINDSON, N.J. – The Syracuse University women’s rowing team finished fourth with 73 points at the 2011 BIG EAST Rowing Championship on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. Notre Dame won its eighth-consecutive championship with 114 points. The varsity third was SU’s best finish, placing third. All four of the Syracuse crews advanced to their respective Grand Finals with second place finishes in their preliminary heats.

Junior Emma Karpowicz was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team and graduate student Chelsea Macpherson was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team.

“I actually thought the crew rowed to the level that their level of training would indicate. They executed what they practiced fairly well. The varsity eight race was the most competitive BIG EAST Grand Final in the history of the event, with five boats in much of the race with the separation occurring in the last 500 meters,” head coach Justin Moore said. “We are disappointed about finishing fifth (in the varsity eight), but we are very excited knowing that this is just the first step and we are going to be a lot better. That race also showed that the BIG EAST is developing into a very competitive conference heading into our NCAA automatic bid year (2013).”

The Syracuse varsity eight finished fifth, ahead of West Virginia, crossing the finish line in 6:51.12. Louisville won the varsity eight in 6:40.00. The Orange varsity eight posted a time of 7:02.31 in its preliminary heat. Norte Dame won the heat in 6:56.50.The Mountaineers finished third and Connecticut fourth.

The Orange second varsity eight placed fourth, in front of Connecticut and Rutgers, with a time of 6:59.83. North Dame won the second varsity eight in 6:49.10. The Syracuse second varsity eight recorded a time of 7:16.01 in its preliminary heat. Louisville won the heat in 7:12.10. The Scarlet Knights placed third and Villanova fourth.

SU’s varsity four finished third, ahead of Georgetown, Connecticut and West Virginia, crossing the line in 7:49.41. The Fighting Irish also won the varsity four in 7:31.36. SU’s varsity four registered a time of 8:18.64 in its preliminary heat. ND won the heat in 7:50.91. The Mountaineers were third and Rutgers fourth.

The Syracuse third varsity eight placed fifth, in front of Rutgers, with a time of 7:33.82. Notre Dame took home the third varsity eight race as well in 7:03.24.The Orange third varsity eight crossed the line in 7:47.11 in its preliminary heat. The Irish won the heat in 7:22.21. The Scarlet Knights finished third.

The Orange is the only other team besides Notre Dame to claim a title, winning the BIG EAST Challenge three-straight times from 2001-2003. Notre Dame has taken home every BIG EAST women’s rowing title since 2004, giving the team the longest current active streak of BIG EAST Championship titles in any sport.

SU returns to action on Sunday, May 15 at the Eastern Sprints in Camden, N.J.

Women Head to the BIG EAST

2011-04-29T13:46:00.006-04:00

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

2011-04-26T16:44:00.001-04:00

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

2011-04-22T21:05:00.006-04:00

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

2011-04-22T10:22:00.002-04:00

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

2011-04-22T08:42:00.004-04:00

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

2011-04-21T16:58:00.003-04:00

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!

2011-04-21T14:59:00.008-04:00

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

2011-04-20T12:29:00.003-04:00

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

2011-04-17T18:43:00.002-04:00

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

2011-04-16T13:42:00.005-04:00

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

2011-04-15T13:42:00.006-04:00

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.

2011-04-13T20:50:00.005-04:00

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