Cornell University Athletics

The team journeyed to the Syracuse Invitational for the final race of the fall season. Everyone was hopeful to get in one more solid result against one of our top rivals. Syracuse is a strong competitor and they beat the varsity and the second varsity at IRA's last year. At the Princeton Chase, the top Syracuse four beat the top Cornell four by a substantial margin and the goal for the race was to close that margin. The other fours, which were relatively mixed between the three varsity crews, were trying to beat as many crews as possible.

The boats went down the course in two flights. The first flight consisted of Cornell A, B, and C racing head-race style against the top three Syracuse fours and various other local opponents. Watching from the shore, I saw as the Syracuse boat cruised to a victory. It was a telling reminder that our team will have to work very hard this winter in order to succeed in the spring. On a positive note, the three heavyweight fours came in second, third, and fourth in their flight, once again showing off the depth of the team.

My boat, which was made up of junior Nick Catalana, sophomore Brian Searle, sophomore Madison Riley, and junior Natalie Little, rowed in the B flight. As we reached the start line, Little, who had coxed in the A flight, warned us that the headwind, which was increasing, would be a significant factor in the race. We were the first boat to start in the B flight, so we had no one to pass, but with Syracuse starting directly behind us, we had plenty of motivation to go as fast as possible. The race was an exciting one to participate in because it involved rowing in many different conditions. At some points during the race, there was a brutal headwind, in others, there was a whipping crosswind, and in others, there was no wind at all and the water was perfectly flat. Over the course of the race, we were able to push away Syracuse and ended up finishing as the top Cornell heavyweight four in the B flight. In the end, we ended up taking second in the B flight to a strong lightweight entry.

All in all, this weekend served to outline how far the team has developed and how far the team has to go in order to be a strong contender in the spring.