Syracuse women’s rowing jumps 1 spot to No. 10 in CRCA Poll
Syracuse finished within four seconds of every race with No. 8 Cal last weekend at the Redwood Shores Challenge, leading to its jump to No. 10 in the CRCA Poll. Meghan Hendricks | Senior Staff Photographer
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Syracuse women’s rowing rose from No. 11 to No. 10 in the sixth edition of the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Poll released Tuesday. The jump comes despite SU losing all eight of its races at the Redwood Shores Challenge last weekend.
The weekend started out rough when the Orange faced No. 2 Stanford on Saturday. Their 2V8 and 2V4 didn’t finish within 15 seconds of the Cardinal. Syracuse narrowed the margin of error in the first varsity 8, but still trailed by 12 seconds. However, the first varsity 4 proved the Orange could compete with one of the best crews in the country, finishing in 7:46.49 to the Cardinal’s 7:41.4.
Syracuse then took on No. 8 California on Sunday, and the two squads battled neck and neck for all four races. The furthest the Orange fell behind the Golden Bears was 3.5 seconds in the first varsity 8. Less than three seconds decided three races.
SU seized the 10th spot in the poll because of No. 13 Virginia’s struggles at the Redwood Shores. The Cavaliers couldn’t finish within 15 seconds in all three of their battles with the Cardinal, unlike the Orange. While Syracuse was consistently right behind California, UVA never narrowed the margin to within 13 seconds.
Although the Orange have leapfrogged an Atlantic Coast Conference foe in the Cavaliers, they’re still the third-ranked team in the conference behind the Cardinal and Golden Bears. SU heads to Princeton, New Jersey next to take on No. 4 Princeton, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 14 Ohio State in 11 days in hopes of bolstering its ranking.
