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No. 3 ranked Syracuse’s varsity 8 crew finished fourth in the Varsity Challenge Cup grand final on Saturday. The Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships race took place at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey. SU’s second varsity 8 finished fifth in the Kennedy Challenge Cup, while the varsity 4 finished seventh in the grand final.

The varsity Challenge Cup is awarded to the best varsity 8 boat, while the Kennedy Challenge Cup is awarded to the second-best varsity boat. Washington — the 2021 IRA national champions — placed first in the grand finals of three events, earning its 19th Varsity Challenge Cup and 30th Kennedy Challenge Cup in program history.

The Orange varsity 8 qualified for the grand final by qualifying through the time trials and the semifinal round. Syracuse finished fifth in the time trials (5:31.345) among 29 other schools, thus the Orange advanced to the semifinals. In the second semifinal flight, the Orange finished second (6:33.000) behind No. 10 Dartmouth (6:29.315), and both schools qualified for the grand final with the top-2 finish. No. 1 Washington, No. 2 California Berkeley, No. 5 Northeastern and No. 9 Stanford also qualified for the grand final.

Battling a headwind in the grand final, the Orange varsity 8 finished fourth (6:10.882) behind Washington (5.59.707), California Berkeley (6:02.953) and Dartmouth (6:07.607). For SU’s second varsity 8 crew, the group qualified for the semifinals by finishing third (5:40.663) in the time trials. Then, in their semifinals heat, the Orange finished second (6:23.319) behind Dartmouth (6:21.919). Syracuse finished fifth in the second varsity 8 grand final, defeated by Washington, Dartmouth, California Berkeley and Northeastern in that order.

Despite finishing seventh in the time trials, SU’s varsity 4 received an automatic qualification to the grand finals because the semifinals were cancelled due to weather conditions. SU also placed seventh in the grand final, with Washington winning gold.

In program history, SU has six IRA national titles, with its last Varsity Challenge Cup win in 1978. SU also has six Kennedy Challenge Cup titles, with its most recent victory in 1939.

Published on May 29, 2021 at 1:42 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini