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Syracuse women’s rowing completed the 2023 season with an impressive showing at the NCAA National Championship in Pennsauken, New Jersey. On Cooper River, the Varsity 8, second varsity 8 and varsity 4 all represented the Orange.

The competition started Friday morning with the heat races, continued Saturday with the semifinals and finished with the grand finals on Sunday.

The varsity 8 entered the regatta with the highest expectations, coming off an Atlantic Coast Conference championship and Crew of the Year honor. The crew included Hannah Murphy as the coxswain, Alena Criss as the bow and Annika Maxson, Emmie Frederico, Izabela Krakic, Kamile Kralikaite, Ellie-Kate Hutchinson, India Aikens and Martyna Kazlauskaite as strokes.

In the heat round, the V8 raced in the second heat against No. 2 Texas, No. 11. Michigan, No. 14 Duke and Northeastern. The Orange finished in third place behind Texas and Michigan. The third-place finish in heat two allowed Syracuse to clinch a spot in the A/B semifinal.

In the A/B semifinal, Syracuse finished in fourth place, behind No. 1 Princeton, No. 2 Texas and No. 6 Penn. The top three teams all finished within one second of each other while the Orange crossed the line 6.1 seconds after first-place Princeton.

The varsity 8 raced in the B final on Sunday morning against Michigan, Brown, Southern Methodist, Virginia and California. Syracuse finished just 1.8 seconds behind SMU, claiming second place. Second in the B final meant eighth place overall for the Orange. The eighth-place finish is the second-best for the varsity 8 in program history, just behind the 2001 crew that finished in sixth.

The second varsity 8 also had a strong performance on Cooper River. The crew included Louise Rath as the coxswain, Aphrodite Gioulekas as the bow and Junior Ognovich, Madison D’Ambra, Zoe Acosta, Lena Radke, Olivia Schaertl, Haley Uliasz and Heather Stafford as strokes.

In the heats, Syracuse finished in fourth place behind Texas, Virginia and Penn, placing the crew in the C/D semifinals. In the semifinal, the Orange finished second. In the C final, the crew finished in fifth place and No. 17 overall.

The varsity 4 was the third crew to represent Syracuse. The crew included Caileigh Grimes as the coxswain, Mae Sweeney as the bow and Elizabeth Vogt, Kaitlyn Dennis and Alice McNeill as the strokes. The crew finished in fourth place in the heat round, first place in the C/D semifinal and first place in the C final. Overall, the crew won two races at the National Championship and finished No. 13 overall.

With the three crews finishing No. 8, No. 17 and No. 13, respectively, the Orange finished No. 13 overall at the 2023 National Championships. Syracuse climbed four spots from last year as it finished No. 17 in 2022.

“The national championship regatta showcases team depth,” head coach Luke McGee said on Sunday. “It is a real positive that we jumped four spots from last year from 17th to 13th. It shows the commitment by everyone in the program.”

SU continues to excel under McGee and has now finished at No. 10, No. 17 and No. 13 in the past three seasons.

Published on May 28, 2023 at 4:01 pm

Contact Aiden at: [email protected] | @AidenStepansky