V8 to Race in NCAA Championship B Final

Saturday, May 27

Cooper River, Pensauken, N.J.

8 AM

Syracuse University

NCAA Championship - Semifinals

Varsity 8 start - NCAA Championship semifinal

5/27/2023 1:53:00 PM | Women's Rowing

Syracuse's varsity eight will race in the NCAA Championship B Final after a fourth-place finish in the A/B semifinals at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, N.J. The seventh-seeded Orange posted a time of 6:19.547, coming in behind top-seed Princeton (6:13.423), fourth-seed Penn (6:13.913) and third-seed Texas (6:14.471), and ahead of Cal and SMU. The Orange varsity four won its C/D semifinal to advance to the C final on Sunday, while the second varsity eight will race in the C Finals after placing second in its C/D semifinal.

"I saw our team building momentum through the regatta, with each boat having a better performance," said head coach Luke McGee. "The goal for tomorrow is for every boat having their best race on the last day. It seemed like we took a step in the right direction today and hopefully another one tomorrow."

The varsity eight, that includes coxswain Hannah Murphy, stroke Annika Maxson, Emmie Frederico, Izabela Krakic, Kamile Kralikaite, Ellie-Kate Hutchinson, India Aikens, Martyna Kazlauskaite and bow Alena Criss, will race in the B final in lane three against Cal, Virginia, Michigan, SMU and Brown on Saturday at 10:12 am. The last Syracuse varsity eight boat to race in the B finals placed 12th in 2021. The best varsity eight finish in program history was a sixth-place result in 2001.

"The varsity eight was up against some pretty strong competition racing against the one, three and fourth ranked teams coming in. I thought they raced a really gutsy race and put together a performance that they were proud of and that I was proud of," McGee said. "It was another performance that we can take another step forward tomorrow and have our best race of the season on the last day of the season. That is always the goal regardless of what final you are in. Tomorrow they will race historically strong programs in Michigan, UVA, Brown and Cal. It is really nice to have Syracuse in the same breath as those programs."

The Orange second varsity eight took second in the C/D semifinals to advance to the C finals. Senior Louise Rath coxswained the boat that included stroke Junior Ognovich, Madison D'Ambra, Zoe Acosta, Lena Radke, Olivia Schaertl, Haley Uliasz, Heather Stafford and bow Aphrodite Gioulekas. Syracuse covered the course in 6:39.435, behind Rutgers (6:34.279) and ahead of Southern California, Gonzaga and Jacksonville. The Orange will be in lane five in the final race tomorrow against Rutgers, Duke, Indiana, Southern California and George Washington at 8:48 am. Last year the Orange also raced in the NCAA C finals, placing fourth and finishing 16th overall.

"The 2V took a nice step forward in the race today They have one more chance tomorrow to see if they can put it all together and finish in a position that exceeds their ranking coming in (14th) which would be great."

The varsity four won the C/D semifinal by open water, finishing in 7:16.364 to advance to the C final. Coxswain Caileigh Grimes, stroke Elizabeth Vogt, Kaitlin Dennis, Alice McNeill and bow Mae Sweeney beat Penn, Indiana, Jacksonville and Navy. Syracuse will be in lane four for the C final on Sunday racing against Rutgers, Penn, Southern California, Gonzaga and Indiana. Last season the varsity four took second in the C Final and finished 14th overall at the NCAA Championship. The best V4 finish in Syracuse history is 11th (2002, 2017, 2021).

"The four had a couple of pieces that they wanted to improve upon for today and they we able to do that," McGee said. "The results showed, the times for the C/D and the A/B semis that it is a good boat that has some speed there. What is nice about the four is that all of those people come back next year so that is really good racing experience for them to figure out how to make the improvements and how to make this boat go faster from race to race at a big regatta."

The NCAA Finals racing starts at 8:12 am on Saturday with the varsity four D final.

NCAA Championship Heats Results
Varsity Eight – A/B Semifinal
1. Princeton (6:13.423)
2. Penn (6:13.913)
3. Texas (6:14.471)
4. Syracuse (6:19.547)
5. SMI (6:24.055)
6. California (6:25.811)

Second Varsity Eight – C/D Semifinal
1. Rutgers (6:34.279)
2. Syracuse (6:39.435)
3. Southern California (6:42.683)
4. Gonzaga (6:58.311)
5. Jacksonville (7:07.149)

Varsity Four – C/D Semifinal
1. Syracuse (7:16.364)
2. Penn (7:19.520)
3. Indiana (7:20.232)
4. Jacksonville (7:46.250)
5. Navy (7:49.090)

NCAA Championship Finals Schedule
May 28, 2023
8:24 am – Varsity 4
C Final
Lane 1 – Gonzaga
Lane 2 – Penn
Lane 3 – Rutgers
Lane 4 – Syracuse
Lane 5 – Southern California
Lane 6 -- Indiana

8:48 am – Second Varsity 8
C Final
Lane 1 – Southern California
Lane 2 – Indiana
Lane 3 – Rutgers
Lane 4 – Duke
Lane 5 – Syracuse
Lane 6 – George Washington

10:12 am – Varsity 8
B Final
Lane 1 – California
Lane 2 – Virginia
Lane 3 – Syracuse
Lane 4 – Michigan
Lane 5 – SMU
Lane 6 – Brown

V8
C Hannah Murphy
S Annika Maxson
7 Emmie Frederico
6 Izabela Krakic
5 Kamile Kralikaite
4 Ellie-Kate Hutchinson
3 India Aikens
2 Martyna Kazlauskaite
Bow Alena Criss

2V8
Coxswain Louise Rath
Stroke Junior Ognovich
7 Madison D'Ambra
6 Zoe Acosta
5 Lena Radke
4 Olivia Schaertl
3 Haley Uliasz
2 Heather Stafford
Bow Aphrodite Gioulekas

V4
Coxswain Caileigh Grimes
Stroke Elizabeth Vogt
3 Kaitlyn Dennis
2 Alice McNeill
Bow Mae Sweeney

Alternates
Lea Dahn
April Serrano
Lauren Coop

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