There were 500 meters left in the race and Justin Stangel had the leader in his sights. Stangel made his move. Suddenly, just as a win seemed within reach, the leader seemed to make a move of his own. He drifted into Stangel’s lane, and the two collided across the finish line.

No, this was not the finish to a bizarre NASCAR race. This was rowing. To be precise, the intermediate singles race at the 2005 US National Championships in Indianapolis. Stangel, an SU junior racing for the Vesper Boat Club, was embedded in a controversy for first place in the nation, but before he could begin to worry, he had to join his teammates for an eight-person championship race.

His team was victorious at the championship eight, but when Stangel arrived at the medal stand he received two gold medals. He had been declared the winner of his singles race. Stangel’s experience practicing and competing with the Vesper Boat Club, an elite rowing program, stands so far as his crowning achievement in a remarkable rowing career.

‘It was the best place to train over the summer,’ Stangel said. ‘The coaching I got there was phenomenal. Overall, (Philadelphia) is kind of like the Mecca of where to row on the East Coast because so many clubs go there to train.’

On April 29, Stangel will return to the river where he trained with the Vesper Boat Club. The SU rowing team will try to maintain its undefeated rowing season when the No. 9 Orange faces Temple and Virginia on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.

Rowing has become a vital part of Stangel’s life, ever since a friend saw him as a potential rower in high school. The Wisconsin native has used rowing to allow him to travel the world.

In high school, he won a national-four championship at Cincinnati before he journeyed to Lithuania in the summer for the Junior World Championships. At the next year’s championships, he was pictured in a Greek newspaper while rowing at the Olympic facilities in Athens.

However, his achievements last summer as part of the Vesper Boat Club truly defined Stangel as an elite athlete.

Stangel was honored to be accepted to the invite-only club, which has existed for more than a century and a half. At the camp, he received training and competition from many top rowers. In fact, Vesper’s new coach, Michiel Bartman, was a three-time Olympic medalist from the Netherlands, which included winning a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Bartman was amazed by Stangel’s willingness to excel at different rowing techniques, and his ambition to be the best.

‘Talent is nice to have, but you still have to work incredibly hard to make it to the top,’ Bartman said. ‘Justin is willing to do that, and that makes him the athlete he is now.’

After his summer success, Stangel hoped to carry his momentum and determination to the spring rowing season at Syracuse. So far, everything appears to be going according to plan, as the SU rowing squad is off to a 3-0 start. A crucial factor in the team’s success this year is the emergence of the junior class.

The junior class was the first class recruited by current SU men’s rowing coach Dave Reischman. Stangel was Reischman’s first official signee.

‘I first heard about Justin the fall of his senior year,’ Reischman said. ‘I was standing at the head of the Charles (River in Boston) and I was talking to a coach at an opposing school who pointed him out to me and thought he had him locked up. I was impressed and gave him a phone call.’

Although not a simple decision, Stangel knew Syracuse was the right choice for him. He was told by friends that he should not attend SU for rowing. Syracuse was a school that would stick with you for a 1,000-meter and then you would not see them at the end of the race.

Nevertheless, Reischman convinced the two-time junior national team member that Syracuse was the place to be. After signing Matt Morrow, another two-time junior national team member, Reischman had the core he needed to build a struggling program back into an elite rowing school. The class’ potential was evident immediately. In its first year, the Syracuse freshmen rowing crew went undefeated.

Still, even with all the success Stangel has had with the Orange, it is Stangel’s unbelievable conclusion at the U.S. rowing championships that has left the strongest imprint on the minds of friends and family. While his focus remains on the SU rowing season, it is a triumph which still even amazes Stangel.

‘It was a doozy of a finish,’ Stangel said. ‘I’ve never heard or seen that kind of race before. It was unreal.’

Published on April 27, 2006 at 12:00 pm