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Syracuse men’s rowing had one of its best seasons in 2023. Each crew that raced at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship in June placed in the top 15, culminating in an eighth-place finish in the Ten Eyck Trophy standings.

As the Orange look to repeat their success from last year, here’s what to look for ahead of the 2024 season:

Freshmen to watch

Under the tutelage of Dave Reischman — who enters his 22nd season as SU’s head coach — the Orange brought in 10 freshmen, totaling 49 athletes in the program.

Among the 10 freshmen brought in, Beck Honebein and Oles Walo can make an impact in the spring after promising fall season results.

Honebin was the only freshman on the varsity 8 team that finished first in the Cornell Fall Classic, while Walo raced in the 4V8 and the 3V8 in the same regatta.

Key departures

Syracuse lost half of its Henley Crew, which nearly won the Temple Cup Challenge in London, England, last year. Bricen Nygaard, Emory Sammons, Connor Toomey and Ryan Elsinga raced their final race on the River Thames on “one of our sport’s biggest stages,” Reischman told cuse.com after the race.

“We’ve got a bit of a younger group this year. We graduated some great guys last year,” assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Connor Walters said. “It’s sort of the nature of college athletics; you’re constantly turning over athletes. We’re excited. There’s a lot of potential in this year’s group.”

Who’s going to fill in

Though Syracuse has lost immense talent, it has plenty more. Syracuse’s returners from the Henley eight include sophomores Mack Carr and Cole Nordby and juniors Declan Fry and Jack Gorman.

SU rowers involved in summer expeditions with their various countries can fill in more than adequately. Seniors Lachlan Doust and Joe Willis represented Australia and Great Britain, respectively, at the U23 World Rowing Championships.

Willis and Great Britain took home gold with a 5:26.51 time, besting his Syracuse counterpart Doust and Australia with a 5:31.49 time in the final.

“I’ve got one more year and I’m gonna enjoy the hell out of it and tackle every challenge that comes our way with a smile because that’s what the people I’ve been around tell me,” Willis said after the race.

Doust was nominated and selected by the IRCA Awards & Polling Committee to be a part of the 2024 Athlete Watchlist on April 3.

Sean McHugh also represented New Zealand in the men’s coxed four at the U23 World Championships.

Spring season: Key matchups

Doust said that Syracuse’s goal this season is to have “every boat in the A final come IRAs,” but before then, the Orange will compete against some of the top teams in the country.

SU’s first test will be in Redwood Shores, California, against Pac-12 opponents Oregon State, Stanford and California on April 6.

The University of California ranked No. 1, according to the varsity 8 IRA/IRCA poll released on March 22. The Golden Bears finished first at the most recent IRA National Championship, 73 points ahead of SU.

Oregon State and Stanford are also ranked within the top 20 in the Varsity 8 poll.

On April 20, Lake Onondaga will host a race for the first time since 2019. Syracuse will take on Navy and Cornell in the 67th annual Goes Trophy. The Orange have dominated this regatta, winning the last three.

Senior team captain Reilly Eagan has never raced an official home regatta in Syracuse.

“Everybody’s pretty fired up about it. We know there’s going to be a lot of parents coming out to support, a lot of alumni too,” Eagan said. “So it should be pretty fun and exciting for us.”

Last year, Syracuse clinched an undefeated cup season for the first time since 2008 after beating Boston University for the Conlan Cup and Dartmouth for the Packard Cup.

At the Eastern Sprints on May 19 in Worcester, Mass., Syracuse will look to replicate its success from 2023, when all five of its boats finished in the top six.

The Orange faces the Ivy League schools alongside Georgetown, Navy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Northeastern, Rutgers and Wisconsin on Lake Quinsigamond. This will be the last race before the IRA National Championship. Syracuse last won the IRA National Championship in 1978.

“We have had a lot of success over the last several years,” Walters said. “We’re not living and dying with every stroke or every practice. The goal is just to get a bit better every day and when you can actually do that, you actually get a lot better over the course of the year.”

Published on April 3, 2024 at 10:46 pm

Contact Quinn: qdpostma@syr.edu