Men's Crews Looks Promising In Season Opener At Syracuse
March 30, 2002 | Men's Rowing
Both the present and future looked promising for the Terrier men's varsity and freshmen crews on Saturday (March 30th) as they opened their 2002 spring season at Syracuse for the Conlan Cup.
The varsity heavyweight crew "rowed the best race we have had in a long time," according to head coach Rodney Pratt albeit in a losing effort.
Rowing aggressively throughout the 2000-meter Lake Onondaga course, the Terriers lost on the last stroke of the race as Syracuse won by just five tenths of a second, 6:13.6 to 6:14.1.
"It was a really tough race," said Pratt. "It was nip and tuck throughout."
The Terriers actually led by five seats at the 1100-meter mark. It was at that point that a crosswind caused problems that cost the Terriers a couple of strokes. That's all Syracuse needed to catch up and go on to win by just one stroke.
"At this point of the season, I am very happy with how the varsity rowed," said Pratt. "We are doing some good things out there, and there is a great attitude. The seniors are really coming through for us."
Between the first and second varsity crews, there are seven seniors, six of whom rowed against Syracuse. Sean Casavechia (Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia) sat in the three seat in the varsity boat. Michael Strilesky (Vancouver, BC) was in the five seat, Kevin Valent (Jacksonville, FL) was in the six seat, and Andre Reid (Vancouver, BC) stroked the varsity boat. In the second varsity, Brendan Gallagher (Chatham) was in the four season and Mitchell Johnson (Woodbridge, VA) was the stroke. A seventh senior, cox Ida Hatoum (Framingham) was not in either boat.
The second varsity lost to Syracuse by less than four seconds, 6:27.6 to 6:31.6.
"We had a couple of bad strokes in the middle of the race, and that cost us," said Pratt. "We were down by a boat length, but give our rowers credit, they did not give in. They came back and rowed hard and managed to almost come even to the Syracuse boat. Unfortunately, they didn't have quite enough at the end."
On the positive side, both Terrier freshmen boats defeated the Orangemen. The first freshmen were timed in 6:24.4, while Syracuse rowed in 6:35.9. The second freshmen rowed in 6:50.7, compared to 7:01.4 by Syracuse.
"I was very proud of how the two boats rowed," said freshman coach Dave LeFebvre. "They rowed very maturely, and only three of our rowers ever rowed before. In the first freshman boat, the cox and three oarsmen have experience while the rest of that boat, along with everyone on the second freshman boat are all novices."
In the first freshman race, the Terriers led from the start and were never challenged. It was a different scenario in the second freshman boat where the Terriers trailed by open water after the first 500 meters. However, they battled back and by the second 1000 meters had the race under control and won comfortably.
| Men's Rowing Results |
| Onondaga Lake--Syracuse, NY--Conlan Cup |
| March 30, 2002 |
| Varsity Eight |
| 1. Syracuse 6:13.6 |
| 2. Boston University 6:14.1 |
| Second Varsity Eight |
| 1. Syracuse 6:27.6 |
| 2. Boston University 6:31.4 |
| First Freshmen Eight |
| 1. Boston University, 6:24.4 |
| 2. Syracuse 6:35.9 |
| Second Freshmen Eight |
| 1. Boston University 6:50.7 |
| 2. Syracuse, 7:01.4 |
