'Cuse Takes Second to Yale and Beats Cornell in Saratoga

Saturday, April 8

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

3 PM

Syracuse University

#3 Yale

'Cuse Takes Second to Yale and Beats Cornell in Saratoga

4/8/2023 11:26:00 PM | Women's Rowing

The Orange finished second behind Yale and in front of Cornell in all five races on Fish Creek in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on Saturday. In the Cayuga Cup race, the #8 Orange varsity eight came in five seconds behind #3 Yale and 35 seconds ahead of Cornell. The eighth-ranked Orange, coxswained by Hannah Murphy included stroke Annika Maxson, Alena Criss, Izabela Krakic, Kamile Kralikaite, Ellie-Kate Hutchinson, India Aikens, Martyna Kazlauskaite and Aphrodite Gioulekas, crossed the finish line in 6:30.943, while third-ranked Yale posted a time of 6:25.621 and Cornell completed the race in 7:06.822.

"We had a lot of boats racing hard today. Certainly, Yale is a strong program, there is a reason why they are ranked third in the country, and they showed us that today," said head coach Luke McGee. "There were some good things we did out there today and certainly some room for improvement. We will look to learn from today as we keep building toward the conference championship and the NCAAs.

"The varsity did a good job. They stuck their nose in there pretty early and were able to put some pressure on them. Yale extended it away in the third quarter of the race and then was able to hold serve in the last quarter, so we certainly have some stuff to work on and we will."

Syracuse's second varsity eight finished its race in 6:45.948, taking second behind Yale (6:30.551) and in front of Cornell (7:06.648). The Orange lineup included coxswain Louise Rath, stroke Zoe Acosta, Emmie Frederico, Heather Stafford, Lena Radke, Olivia Schaertl, Lauren Coop, Lea Dahn and Katharine Ryan.

"The 2V was tough. We were going up against a boat that won the national championship last year with six returners in it, so we knew that was going to be a challenge," McGee said. "That is still a work in progress for us as we keep trying to put it together."

The third varsity eights opened the racing on Saturday with Syracuse taking second in 7:10.145. Yale won the race in 6:42.005 and Cornell was third (7:15.503). Isabelle Sareen coxswained the boat that included stroke Margaux Gryska, Lea Guttormson, Nora Radke, Charlotte Ebel, Grace Loveridge, Izzy Blackburn, Hannah Fagioli and Cassandra Dasco.

The Orange varsity four, which was coxswained by Caileigh Grimes with stroke Junior Ognovich, Haley Uliasz, Mae Sweeney and Alice McNeill, crossed the finish line in 7:24.022, second to Yale (7:09.001) and ahead of Cornell (7:58.506). In the final race of the day, the Syracuse second varsity four, including coxswain April Serrano, stroke Elizabeth Vogt, Kaitlyn Dennis, Sarah Haney and Madison D'Ambra, posted a time of 7:30.975, second to Yale's second varsity four (7:20.241) and ahead of Yale's third varsity four (7:40.778), Syracuse's third varsity four (7:52.630) and Cornell's second varsity four (8:13.181). Isabella DeSantis coxswained the Orange third varsity four with stroke Rebecca Farrell, Emma Cloud, Taylor Lewandowski and Maddi Segarnick.

"The fours are figuring some things out and gaining ground, so we look at it as also a work in progress, trying to build through to ACCs," McGee said.

Syracuse will have a weekend off on April 15 before seeking to defend its Lake Wheeler Invitational title on April 21 and 22 in Raleigh, N.C.

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