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For the first time since 2019, Syracuse men’s rowing hosted a rowing event at the Ten Eyck boathouse. The Orange welcomed No. 11 Navy and No. 14 Cornell as the three competed for the Goes and Stagg Trophies on Lake Onondaga.

“I think we have a pretty cool race course in that sort of home finishing stretch that goes right in front of our boathouse,” alumni and assistant coach Forrest Sears said. “It’s really loud. It’s cool to have parents, family, and friends shouting as you come by the boathouse. It’s a really special experience.”

The Goes Trophy goes to the winner of the varsity 8 race between all three schools, while the Stagg Trophy is awarded to the team that collects the most points throughout the first three races of the morning. Saturday, No. 7 Syracuse earned both trophies after its stellar performance.

In the first race of the day, SU’s varsity 8 won its fourth-straight Goes Trophy, beating Navy’s by six seconds and Cornell’s by eight seconds with a time of 5:40.6.

The race started out close, but Syracuse quickly pulled away and kept the lead for the rest of the event, scoring five points toward its Stagg Trophy campaign.

Senior Michael Harris steered the boat at his first and last home race.

“It took a little longer to get aligned than normal but everybody in the boat did a good job of just being locked in,” Harris said.

The next race wasn’t very different. Syracuse’s second varsity 8 held over a full boat’s length lead for most of the race, defeating Cornell and Navy by four and seven seconds, respectively, coming in with a time of 5:45.4.

Syracuse celebrates its victory with the Goes and Stagg Trophies. Photographer | Meghan Hendricks | Senior Staff Photographer

“That’s what we train all year for,” Anders Erlandsen, who sat in stroke seat in the 2v8, said. “We spend the winter season just killing our bodies on the erg. It’s what we’re prepared to do.”

At that stage, Syracuse held nine points in its Stagg Trophy running compared to Cornell and Navy’s six.

In the following race, the third varsity 8 secured the Stagg Trophy with a time of 5:49.4, finishing with 12 points, compared to Cornell’s eight and Navy’s seven.

SU and Cornell were well-matched for most of the race, but the Orange came out on top in the last 500 meters.

“When we started to come through the bridge, we focused a lot on the front end and lengthening the stroke out and it allowed us to pull away as they started to fatigue,” junior coxswain Joseph Biondolillo said. “In that third 500, we just became the fastest team.”

In a razor tight finish, Syracuse’s fourth varsity 8 was narrowly beaten out by Cornell after the Big Red’s stern edged ahead of Syracuse in the last second.

The fourth varsity boat consisted of six freshmen and sophomores.

“A lot of these guys, it’s their first time racing. It’s a learning experience,” junior Malakai Leon said. “Everyone gets nerves. I’ve been doing this for 12 years and I still get nervous. I almost threw up before the race. I think it’s something that comes with more experience.”

In the last race, Syracuse’s fifth varsity 4 finished in second place. It was beaten by Navy by eight seconds, covering the course in 6:45 seconds. SU was ahead of third-place Cornell by six seconds, though.

The Orange kept it close to Navy for the first 500 meters, but Navy pulled away by the end.

Syracuse will race next weekend at the Lake Morey Invite on Lake Morey in Vermont. It will compete against No. 9 Dartmouth, No. 13 Boston University, and No. 18 Georgetown.

Published on April 20, 2024 at 12:50 pm

Contact Quinn: qdpostma@syr.edu