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On the final day of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship, Syracuse’s top three varsity 8 boats all competed in the finals.

The third varsity 8 started well ahead of the rest of the pack in the Mens Varsity 3rd 8+ Petite Final. With 750 meters left in the race, No. 5 Yale took over the first position and held on despite a late charge from No. 9 Syracuse.

“This season, we’ve struggled with our start and coming out of the blocks slow. For the semifinal and final this weekend, we were pretty determined to have a strong start and get out and put our nose in the race,” senior Reilly Eagan said. “Today, Yale had a little more gas at the end and pulled through.”

The Orange finished second with a time of 5:48.4, a little over a second behind Yale, and tied a program-best eighth at IRAs in the 3V8.

The second varsity 8 held its fast start to secure first place in the Men’s Varsity 2nd 8+ Petite Final.

No. 6 SU clocked in at 5:42.3, about two seconds above No. 7 Yale, and 7.95 seconds faster than its race in the AB semifinal on June 1.

Grad student Max McFadden sat in the bow seat for the 2V8 in his last race at Syracuse.

“Everyone wanted to put together a complete piece. We were happy that we were able to do that. I’d say this is our best piece of the season in the 2V,” McFadden said.

The Orange finished seventh at IRAs in the 2V8, two places better than last year’s ninth-place finish. This is the third time in a row that the 2V8 has finished in the top 10 at IRAs.

In its fourth-straight appearance in the Grand Final at IRAs, the varsity 8 placed sixth in the Men’s Varsity 1st 8+ Grand Final with a time of 5:37.7. No. 8 SU was 10.5 seconds behind winner No. 1 Washington (5:27.2).

Syracuse was toward the end of the group for most of the race and was about three seconds behind No. 5 Yale, who came in fifth place. The V8 placed fifth last year with a faster time in the Grand Final (5:38.96).

“It might not seem like it, but at this level, just being in the Grand Final is a huge accomplishment,” junior Isaac Evans said. “At the beginning of the year, it wasn’t really clear if we’d have the guys to do it, but I think we just peaked at the right time.”

The Orange placed co-seventh overall with No. 9 Dartmouth in the Ten Eyck Points Trophy, scoring 218 points. Washington took home first place with 288 points.

“Last year, we graduated a lot of guys on the team, which pulled a lot of guys up. Around the country, I know a lot of people were thinking Syracuse is going to fall off across the board,” Eagan said. “We sort of matched our performances from last year all through. We were all pretty pumped about that.”

Published on June 2, 2024 at 5:03 pm

Contact Quinn: qdpostma@syr.edu