ITHACA, N.Y. — Recent graduates
Gerald Anderson '24,
Axel Ljunggren '24, and
Alice Rau '24 of the Cornell men's lightweight rowing received 2024 Empacher-IRCA All-American honors, as announced by the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA) on Thursday morning.
In order to be named an All-American, rowers and coxswains must meet all eligibility rules defined by their institution, race in their team's varsity boat for the current spring racing season, must be nominated by their institution, and the head coach of the student-athlete's institution must be in good standing with the IRCA.
Nominees are then selected by the IRCA Board of Directors to First, Second, and Honorable Mention teams based on three criteria: Strength of finish of the institution's varsity boat, nomination rank within institution, and coach's comments, individual achievements, and erg score.
Cornell's trio were among 99 rowers and coxswains that met the criteria, representing 42 teams (36 heavyweight and six lightweight).
Anderson, who sat in the stroke seat of the Big Red's varsity eight for the entire spring season, was the lone Big Red representative on the First Team for the lightweight division. During the spring, Anderson played a pivotal role in the Big Red's pair of victories over Columbia for the Geiger Cup on April 20 and against Dartmouth for the Baggaley Bowl on April 27.
Rau and Ljunggren were both named Second Team selections. Rau coxed Cornell's varsity eight in all six of its spring events, aiding the Big Red to its victories over Columbia and Dartmouth. Ljunggren spent the entire regular season in the bow seat before moving up to the No. 5 seat for the 2024 IRA Championship that was held on Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J., from May 31 - June 2.
In addition to the All-American honors, Anderson and Rau were named 2024 Empacher-IRCA Scholar Athletes by the IRCA on Wednesday. Joining Anderson and Rau on the list from Cornell's lightweight rowing team was
Emmett Patterson and 12 members of the men's heavyweight rowing team were also honored. The members of the heavyweight program that were named was
Ben Aquilina-Piscitello,
Charles Bierden,
Abbey Charlamb,
Marko Djuranovic,
Walid Ghamra,
Kyle Howe,
Mark Krneta,
Jake Lawson,
Topher Luzarraga,
Ethan Waxman,
Joe Welling, and
J. Maxwell Zirkman.
Rau was also nominated for the IRCA's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, awarded to the student-athlete with the strongest combination of academic — determined through combination of grade-point average and major field of study — and athletic accomplishments. The winner of the award will be announced on Friday, June 21. California's Tommy Barrell and Princeton's Tim Eilers are the other nominees for the award.
2024 EMPACHER/IRCA LIGHTWEIGHT ALL-AMERICANS
| First Team |
| NAME |
INSTITUTION |
| Gerald Anderson |
Cornell University |
| Brahm Erdmann |
Harvard University |
| Ryan McCarthy |
Harvard University |
| Anya Cheng |
Harvard University |
| Lucas Young |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
| David Van Velden |
Princeton University |
| Nicholas Aronow |
Princeton University |
| Nathaniel Sass |
University of Pennsylvania |
| Simon Dubiel |
University of Pennsylvania |
| Jonathan Sauer |
U.S. Naval Academy |
| Second Team |
| NAME |
INSTITUTION |
| Alice Rau |
Cornell University |
| Axel Ljunggren |
Cornell University |
| James Stevenson |
Harvard University |
| Adam Casler |
Princeton University |
| Reuben Cook |
Princeton University |
| Charles Bourget |
University of Pennsylvania |
| Stephen Frost |
U.S. Naval Academy |
