Syracuse women’s rowing beats Cornell, dominated by Yale at Cayuga Cup
Despite handily finishing ahead of Cornell in every race Saturday at the Cayuga Cup, Syracuse was destroyed by No. 6 Yale. Meghan Hendricks | Senior Staff Photographer
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Syracuse women’s rowing easily dispatched its opposition in its first meet of the season. At the B1G/ACC/Ivy Dual on March 22, SU won seven races against No. 12 Penn, No. 13 Michigan, and No. 15 Ohio State.
But on Saturday, the Orange faced their most formidable opponent yet. It faced No. 6 Yale Saturday at the Cayuga Cup in Saratoga Springs, New York. The matchup would show if SU had what it took to compete against the country’s best teams.
It didn’t. While the Orange consistently bested Cornell, their other opponent at the Cayuga Cup, all but one race of the regatta ended in the same order — Yale in front, Syracuse in the middle, and Cornell in the caboose.
The meet started with the third varsity 8. It just so happened to be its best performance. The Orange (7:11.08) only finished nine seconds behind the Bulldogs (7:04.36) and beat Cornell by a whopping 32 seconds. SU’s varsity 4, which finished in 7:47.22, also closed the margin with Yale, crossing the line nine seconds later.
While the two boats were competitive, Syracuse’s lowlight came in the third varsity 4. Its 8:35.38 time squeaked past Cornell (8:41.73) by six seconds, but over 22 seconds passed before the Orange claimed second place. The boat was making its season debut Saturday, as it didn’t race at the B1G/ACC/Ivy Dual. The fourth varsity 4 also raced for the first time in 2025 with the third varsity 4s. However, its 8:55.40 time couldn’t hang with the Big Red.
None of the other three SU boats clocked within 10 seconds of Yale, but they were all much more competitive than the 3V4 race. The first varsity 8’s 6:56.73 time was 12 seconds slower than the Bulldogs but nearly 20 faster than the Big Red. Syracuse’s 2V8 (7:11:54) and 2V4 (8:02.19) hung behind Yale by 15 and 10 seconds, respectively, and both finished well ahead of Cornell.
Saturday was certainly a disappointment for the Orange after its strong start two weeks ago and winning the Atlantic Coast Conference a year ago. On Saturday, despite a different location, every Syracuse boat put forth a worse performance than they did in the first regatta of the season.
If SU wants a shot at repeating as ACC champions, it needs to beat the best of the best. And with matchups with No. 2 Stanford and No. 8 California looming, it must rebound quickly.
