SU slips up in weekend slate versus top squads, drops 6 races in Princeton
No. 10 Syracuse women's rowing failed to record a top-two finish in six races in Princeton, N.J. Saturday. SU struggled against top squads. Meghan Hendricks | Senior Staff Photographer
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It’s been over a month since No. 10 Syracuse women’s rowing’s first or second varsity squads won a race. The last time the Orange did so was at the B1G/ACC/Ivy Dual, when they won seven events. SU continued the trend Saturday in Princeton, New Jersey, as it failed to record a top-two finish in each of its six races.
Syracuse clashed with No. 5 Tennessee, No. 6 Princeton and No. 16 Ohio State Saturday. The Volunteers utterly dominated throughout the day. Their first varsity eight clocked in at 5:57.6. The Orange (6:13.5) managed to come in third.
The 2V8 contest had a nearly identical result. The Volunteers (6:11.6) bested the Orange (6:28.3) by nearly 17 seconds and the Buckeyes (6:42.1) by over 30.
While OSU did not deploy its third varsity eight, Tennessee (6:28.8) came in first, Princeton (6:29.6) finished second and Syracuse (6:36.1) was in the caboose. It proved to be SU’s most competitive battle of the day.
The varsity eight matchups were relatively predictable given where each program stands in the latest Pocock Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association poll. But Syracuse’s varsity fours did not look like its usual selves. The Orange finished the 1V4 race with a time of 7:42.2 for fourth place. The Volunteers (7:02.8) won again with the Tigers (7:04.6) on their tail. The third-place Buckeyes (7:05.4) were right behind. SU’s gap with OSU was nearly 37 seconds.
Syracuse’s second varsity four (7:23.2) performed better, as it finished third and beat Ohio State (7:26.1) by a narrow three seconds. This time, Princeton (7:10.1) handed Tennessee (7:13.0) its first and only loss of the day.
The Volunteers and Buckeyes did not participate in the 3V4 race, although the Tigers’ 4V4 entered the field. SU (7:38.7) not only fell behind Princeton’s third varsity four (7:33.0), but it also failed to beat its fourth (7:37.8).
Saturday was Syracuse’s final regatta until the ACC Tournament, which is in less than three weeks in Clemson, South Carolina. The Orange will simply need better performances if they want to compete with ranked conference foes like No. 2 Stanford, No. 9 California, No. 12 Virginia, No. 18 Duke and No. 24 North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.
