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In a two day regatta on Lake Wheeler, Syracuse Women’s Rowing had another successful event in the pursuit of an ACC and NCAA Championship. After winning the Pocock Cup at Lake Wheeler last season, the team looked to repeat on Saturday.

In Raleigh, Syracuse faced off against 17 other schools including three ranked teams. No. 8 Penn, No. 14 Duke, and No.19 Iowa. Other schools included Alabama, Boston, Clemson, Tennessee, Boston College, Central Florida, Georgetown, Kansas, Louisville, Miami, Navy, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Washington State.

Racing began Friday morning with the 3V8 event which was split into three heats. Syracuse defeated Tennessee by 5.518 seconds and three other schools by over 15 seconds to take home the first win of the invitational.

The 2v4 was next and also was split into three heats. Syracuse defeated Tennessee once again by over 12 seconds.

In the V4, Syracuse’s crew beat all other crews by eight seconds or more. Caleigh Grimes led SU by coxswaining the V4 through all competitions.

The 2V8 was Syracuse’s first loss of the day. Tennessee crossed the finish line almost five seconds before Syracuse.

To finish up Friday’s morning session, the Varsity eight took center stage. Syracuse’s V8 included coxswain Hannah Murphy, bow Emmie Frederico, and strokes Annika Maxson, Alena Criss, Izabela Krakic, Kamile Kralikaite, Ellie-Kate Hutnchinson, India Aikens, and Martyna Kazlauskaite. The V8 defeated all opponents by more than 11 seconds in its first race of the day.

At the end of the morning session, Syracuse had totaled four first place finishes and one second place finish.

The afternoon session began with the same order of racing.

In the 2V4, the Orange defeated No. 19 Iowa by just under ten seconds to take home its second win of the day. The V4 also came in just before Iowa and swept their races Friday.

After suffering a loss in the morning session, the 2V8 bounced back and won their race by 3.658 seconds.

To end Friday’s racing, the Varsity eight remained dominant, defeating Iowa by just under ten seconds.

Syracuse won nine of ten races when Friday ended with a total score of 63. Despite the dominance, SU trailed Duke by three points. No. 14 Duke had won all ten of its races Friday. The Orange and the Blue Devils didn’t compete in the same heat in any competition on Friday.

Saturday morning decided who won the Pocock Cup. The finals began at 7:30 a.m. with the Varsity eight.

Syracuse’s V8 raced in the same heat with Penn and Duke in the final. Syracuse crossed the finish line at 6.27. Penn finished right behind them at 6:29, Duke was behind at 6:37.

From that point, Syracuse failed to win another race at Lake Wheeler.

The 2V8 finished behind Penn and Duke. The V4 finished almost six seconds behind Duke. The 2V4 finished nine seconds behind Duke. To finish the regatta, the 3V8 finished six seconds behind Duke.

After a strong showing on the opening day of the Lake Wheeler Invitational, Syracuse women’s rowing fell flat on the final day and couldn’t repeat as Pocock Cup champions.

Syracuse next races at the Eastern Sprints next Sunday in Worcester, Massachusetts. The race on Lake Quinsigamond will be the last of the regular season for the Orange.

Published on April 22, 2023 at 7:30 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky