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No. 11 Syracuse placed 12th at the NCAA Division I Women’s Rowing Championship this weekend, with its three boats failing to advance to Sunday’s finals. SU’s 67 points were the least among four Atlantic Coast Conference invites. The result nearly matched the Orange’s performance in 2024, when they slotted at 11th.

The varsity 8 was pivotal in earning Syracuse an at-large bid to Championship Weekend at Lake Mercer in New Jersey. It featured four All-ACC rowers and U23 silver medalist Olivia Bachert in the stroke seat. Yet, the Orange had a rough outing in Friday’s first heat, placing last with a time of 6:24.539.

In front was ACC champion No. 1 Stanford (6:11.533), No. 8 Brown (6:14.999), No. 9 Michigan (6:20.126) and No. 13 Harvard (6:22.721). The Orange have seen plenty of the Cardinal this season, falling behind in 10 races throughout three weekends. SU’s first varsity 8 fell behind Stanford by 12 seconds at the Redwood Shores Challenge and 15 seconds at the ACC Championship Grand Finals.

Syracuse had also split four events with the Wolverines at the B1G/ACC/Ivy Dual. The varsity 8 trailed by 0.71 seconds in March, and it ultimately couldn’t finish faster this time.

SU’s performance brought it to a lane in the C/D semifinals. Though the stakes were lower, the varsity 8 was determined to keep its season alive. After a rain delay pushed the start time to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the Orange (6:18.073) placed second, only behind No. 17 Penn (6:17.229).

They created a large gap between the competition that fell behind — No. 15 Dartmouth (6:21.065), Northeastern (6:23.165) and Fairfield (6:45.753). Second place earned SU a spot in Sunday’s C Final.

On Sunday, Syracuse (6:20.367) went out on a high note, winning its race, despite the C/D semifinal-winning Quakers (6:27.151) competing, who ultimately finished last. Between SU and Penn were Harvard (6:22.937), No. 14 Central Florida (6:23.115), Dartmouth (6:24.173) and No. 19 Oregon State (6:26.071).

In the varsity 4 qualifying heat, SU’s 7:08.352 finish was within .2 seconds of No. 7 Rutgers’ (7:08.169), which caught the Orange from behind at the end of the race. Syracuse placed ahead of No. 12 California (7:10.867), UCF (7:18.474), Boston University (7:25.817) and Fairfield (8:06.217).

After being swept by the Golden Bears at the Redwood Shores Challenge in four head-to-head races, the Orange finished ahead of them in 4-of-10 events at the ACC Championship on May 17.

Syracuse’s 104 points earned it third place in the conference, with Cal in fourth with 102. It even earned a higher ranking in the Pocock Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Poll last week for the first time. On Friday, the Orange were again superior to the Golden Bears in the third heat of the varsity 4 qualifying round.

The varsity 4, coxswained by junior Dana Shearer, advanced to Saturday’s A/B Semifinal 2. SU clocked in at 7:04.499 ahead of Harvard (7:09.961) and No. 6 Princeton (7:13.247), which it trailed by 37.6 seconds in a regatta in April. Syracuse fell behind No. 2 Texas (6:57.731), Stanford (6:59.939) and No. 4 Tennessee (7:04.461), which beat the Orange by less than .04 seconds.

SU proved it was a different team since its last meeting with the Volunteers a month ago, when it was annihilated in five matchups. Its varsity 4 did a complete 360, after trailing Tennessee by nearly 40 seconds in the previous meeting. The difference was now .0338 seconds, but the result stayed the same — the Vols finished ahead of Syracuse, which was all they needed to punch a ticket to Sunday’s final. For the 1V4, centiseconds made the difference, as the Orange barely fell to Rutgers in Friday’s qualifying heat and Tennessee in Saturday’s semifinal.

Still, they got a shot in the B Final Sunday. SU’s varsity 4 put forth a classic performance as its season ended. It placed second (7:10.499), with California (7:06.197) finishing on top. The Orange, however, did beat Brown (7:11.903), Michigan (7:14.585), Harvard (7:14.605) and Princeton (7:15.957).

Syracuse continued its dominance over the Ivy League’s Crimson and Tigers, mirroring Saturday. It also got its revenge on the Wolverines, which it lost to by three seconds in March.

Meanwhile, the Orange’s second varsity 8 also started strong. It placed third (6:23.170) Friday in the fourth heat, while UT Austin (6:17.257) and No. 5 Yale (6:19.807) led the pack. SU, coxswained by senior April Serrano — in what was likely her final regatta of her collegiate career — defeated the other competitors — Dartmouth (6:39.865), BU (6:47.395) and Rhode Island (7:00.110) — by wide margins. Syracuse improved from its last meeting with the Bulldogs at the Cayuga Cup, when it fell behind by 15 seconds.

The top-three finish propelled the Orange to day two in the A/B Semifinal 1. However, the 2V8 watched over its shoulders from the caboose for the majority of the race, slotting in at sixth place (6:38.244), ending its campaign. Ahead was Stanford (6:12.600), Texas (6:17.724), No. 10 Virginia (6:20.084), Tennessee (6:21.368) and Cal (6:22.656). The race featured all three of the ACC’s NCAA-qualifying members, and SU struggled to compete despite contesting the Cavaliers and Golden Bears at the conference championship.

The Orange’s second varsity 8 found itself in the B Final Sunday in a tight finish among the six programs. Yet, it faltered, crossing the finish line last at 6:32.632 while taken down by UTK (6:24.586), Brown (6:26.686), U-M (6:26.858), Harvard (6:29.164) and California (6:32.136), which finished 0.496 seconds before SU.

The Orange remained in the top echelon of programs in 2025, achieving a near-50th percentile result at the National Championship, similar to that of their 2024 campaign when they won the ACC.

Still, new conference members Stanford and California have brought forth challenges for SU. But behind a two-time ACC Coach of the Year in Luke McGee, the Orange have the tools to return to glory.

Published on June 1, 2025 at 1:15 pm
jaglick@syr.edu