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After being ranked No. 12 in the most recent Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association poll, Syracuse participated in the ACC/Big 10/Ivy Dual this Saturday in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The Orange faced off against No. 8 Penn, No. 13 Indiana, No. 14 Rutgers and No. 19 Radcliffe in the morning and No. 11 Ohio State in the afternoon. Across the day, Syracuse won six races.

Amidst heavy rain, the varsity 4 got the day started by coming in first with a time of 7:47.3, three seconds in front of Indiana, with Radcliffe and Penn only a second behind the Hoosiers.

The second varsity 8 followed suit by finishing in 6:57.3, three seconds ahead of Penn, but comfortably in front of Radcliffe and Indiana.

Coming off of its first ACC Championship win last spring, the varsity 8 (6:42.0), sporting six returning rowers, was bested by Penn by only two seconds. The boat was coxed by junior Caileigh Grimes, replacing Hannah Murphy, who graduated last spring after holding the position for three years.

Despite finishing behind Penn, the varsity 8 defeated Radcliffe, retaining the Elizabeth H. O’Leary Cup, which has been awarded to the winner of the two programs’ V8 race since 2000. This is the fifth straight year that Syracuse has taken the cup.

Soon after the second varsity 4 captured second place, covering the 2000 meter course in 8:06.3. It finished behind Radcliffe but over 10 seconds in front of third place Penn.

The last two races of the morning session saw SU’s fourth varsity 8 come in first and third varsity 8 finish second, with times of 7:36.1 and 7:05.4 respectively. The 4V8 beat Rutgers by 12 seconds in the only race of the day against the Scarlet Knights.

The afternoon slate was again kicked off by the varsity 4, who was edged out by Ohio State by only four seconds at 7:55.3. Matching its performance in the morning, the second varsity 8 then finished first in its event at 7:07.5.

The varsity 8 got back to its winning ways by beating OSU by over 10 seconds at 6:57.7 seconds. Also claiming first in its matchup was the second varsity 4 who crossed the line in 8:05.0.

The final event of the day included both the third and fourth varsity 8s, but both were defeated by OSU’s 3V8. SU’s 3V8 finished at 7:57.6, with the 4V8 much farther behind at 8:26.1.

SU will get two weeks of rest before it rows against Cornell and No. 5 Yale at Fish Creek in Saratoga Springs, New York. Last year, the Orange finished behind Yale and ahead of Cornell in all five races of this matchup.

Published on March 23, 2024 at 8:46 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99