During fall, the Syracuse crew and rowing teams lay the groundwork for the competitive spring season. It’s supposed to help coaches evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the rowers while allowing them to bond.

But the freshmen eights’s fall season has been cut short this weekend. They were supposed to race this weekend in New Jersey, but they lacked one key element – a team.

Despite featuring 15 freshmen on its fall roster, the crew team does not field enough team members to support the two freshmen eight boats required to compete in this weekend’s Belly of the Carnegie regatta in Princeton, NJ.

‘We decided that it would be better for us not to go,’ head coach Dave Reischman said. ‘We are still in the process of looking for another race this fall, but we are out this weekend.’

Syracuse didn’t attract as many walk-ons as expected. Instead, SU will wait until March 2004 to compete again. It will host Boston University at Onondaga Lake on March 27.

Meanwhile, SU’s freshman rowing team still plans to make the trip to Princeton for Sunday’s races. But without the men competing, the Orangewomen are not eligible for the Belly Bowl Trophy, awarded to the team with the best men’s and women’s times.

In last year’s regatta, the Syracuse women’s A boat finished sixth with a time of 18:48 and the Syracuse women’s B boat finished 11th in 18:57. The Orangewomen would have placed fourth overall in the women’s heats, but they weren’t eligible because the Orangemen didn’t compete in last year’s event either.

In addition, SU rowing sends its Varsity Eight to compete in Seattle this Sunday at the 22nd annual Head of the Lake regatta.

‘It’s the first time we are sending a boat in a few years,’ sophomore Julie Fumanti said. ‘We try to change up our sequence and try to get a little more exciting because we don’t want to get too stale.’

The 4.8-kilometer course will challenge rowers’ endurance because it’s one of the longest regattas SU will race. In addition, with a few hundred teams from Canada and the United States, it’ll be the largest field SU will compete against all season.

The Head of the Lake will be the last race before the start of winter training season. The Orangewomen’s next regatta will be when it co-hosts Boston University and Duke with the men’s team in March. SU’s rowing team will try to defend its three-consecutive Big East titles on April 25 in Worcester, Mass. It has won the event every year since the rowing title was inaugurated in 2001.

‘Our strengths are our competitiveness, fight and desire and I think that that goes a long way, it’s kind of like our passion,’ head coach Kris Sanford said. ‘I think that we have come a long way because of the young team, but I think that there’s also a long way that we have to go.’

Published on November 6, 2003 at 12:00 pm