Syracuse rowing: men’s and women’s teams prepare for Eastern Sprints and ACC Championships

The Syracuse Orange rowing season is coming down to the wire as championship racing begins.

This weekend, the men’s squad heads to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts, to compete in the Eastern Sprints on May 14. The Orange jumped to #4 in the latest Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association/Intercollegiate Rowing Association men’s heavyweight Varsity 8 poll following a sweep of #6 Dartmouth, #13 Boston University and #16 Georgetown at the Lake Morey Invite from April 29-30.

It was a dominant regular season for the ‘Cuse as the Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Eight both finished 7-1, their only loss coming to #1 California at the Pac-12 Invite on April 9.

Sunday’s race is a qualifier for rowing’s National Championship, the IRA Championships, in early June.

The No. 10 women’s team will compete in the ACC Championship on Friday and Saturday at Lake Wheeler in Raleigh, North Carolina. The V8 enters as the No. 1 seed for its race, having previously beat No. 3 seed Duke at Lake Wheeler three weeks ago.

Virginia and Duke hold an advantage over the Orange in all other races. The Cavaliers enter as the No. 1 seed in the second and Third Varsity Eight races, as well as the First Varsity Four. The Blue Devils earned the top spot in the Second Varsity Four. SU is the No. 3 seed in its other four races.

Last year, the ‘Cuse finished second to UVA, who won its 12th straight ACC championship. The Orange are still seeking their first win since joining the ACC from the Big East in 2014.

The competition kicks off on Friday with the 3V8 at 8:05 a.m., followed by the V8, 2V8, V4 and 2V4 races. If SU does well in the preliminary round for each race, it will advance to the Grand Final contests, beginning on Saturday at 8:05 a.m.

In these two battles featuring top 10 schools, now’s the time for ‘Cuse rowing to put the exclamation point on their dominant seasons.