Crew Takes On Big Green For Packard Cup

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SYRACUSE - Coming off a strong showing at Eastern Sprints, No. 8 Syracuse men's crew prepares for the IRA National Championship with its final cup race of the season on Sunday when it looks to defend the Packard Cup against Dartmouth on the Connecticut River in Hanover, N.H.

Follow The Action
Racing begins on Sunday at 9 a.m. with the varsity four, followed by the frosh eight at 9:15, the second varsity eight at 9:30 and the varsity eight at 9:45. Live race audio will be broadcast online and via phone at (712) 432-4418 courtesy of the Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association (SARA).

Cup Season Comes To Close
The Orange will be trying to go 2-1 in cup races this season after splitting its first two. On April 14, Navy claimed the Goes Trophy in the annual race between the Orange, Midshipmen and Cornell. Syracuse claimed victory at the Conlan Cup on April 21 on the Charles River, defeating Boston University and Columbia.

IRA Invite Secured At Sprints
Dave Reischman's Syracuse crew is coming off a performance at last weekend's Eastern Sprints, the EARC's conference championship, in which the 11^th-ranked varsity eight defeated No. 7 Cornell for second place in its heat, securing the Orange a spot in the grand final and a berth in the Intercollegiate Racing Association (IRA) National Championship Regatta on May 30-June 1 on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.

Making the grand final with five of the top 10 crews in the country resulted in SU jumping three spots this week in the USRowing Collegiate Poll to No. 8.

Packard Cup History
Anthony Ladd commissioned the Packard Cup in 1959 to honor his father-in-law, Edward N. Packard (SU Class of 1906). The cup, made of sterling silver, is awarded annually to the winner of the Syracuse-Dartmouth race. Packard was the stroke of the 1904 varsity eight, the first SU crew to capture an IRA Championship.

Syracuse has won the cup five of the last six years, with the Big Green last winning in 2010. Last season, No. 7 Syracuse defeated No. 12 Dartmouth by 2.3 seconds on the Oranges Onondaga Lake course.

Both crews have held on to the Packard Cup for extended streaks in its history. While SU has won five of the last six, Dartmouth won the cup 15 years in a row from 1991-2005. Prior to that, Syracuse won 10 in a row from 1980-1990 (there was no race in 1987). The Orange also won the first seven times the cup was contested from 1960 to 1966.

All-time, Syracuse has 26 victories while Dartmouth has 20, and MIT, which was part of the event in its early years, won five times.

Syracuse has won 18 of its last 23 cup races, dating back to 2006.

Syracuse University Athletics

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