ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell women's rowing team will travel to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., this weekend for the Cayuga Cup, taking on No. 3 Yale and No. 9 Syracuse on Fish Creek. First boats are set to go off at 1 p.m., with races running every 15 minutes.

LAST TIME OUT
The Big Red enter this weekend off a home opener that offered plenty to build on. Cornell's 1V8+ held contact with Boston University through a full race, but the Terriers' strong start was unable to be matched. In the second wave of races, Cornell posted a 16-second victory over George Washington, using a strong start and being able to settle into a strong rhythm.

Cornell's 2V8+ battled back to within 1.5 seconds of Boston University after another strong start by the Terriers crew. The Big Red then dominated George Washington in the afternoon, posting a 14-second victory.

The 1V4 delivered perhaps the day's most dramatic performance, according to Steve Coppola, the Staley Head Coach of Cornell Women's Rowing. In the morning session against Boston University, Cornell held the Terriers to a boat length before catching a few diggers that stalled its momentum and allowed BU to stretch its lead. The Big Red crew responded in the afternoon against George Washington, erasing an early deficit with a surge just before the 1,000-meter mark and continuing to build through the finish.

"Against BU, they were able to hold them to a boat length until they caught a few diggers that stalled their momentum," Coppola said. "Right before the thousand, our 4+ made a significant push and were able to row through GW and continue to stretch out to a significant margin in the final 1K. 4+s can be fun that way since they are so dynamic and change speed so quickly."

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Yale presents a stiff test at the top of the lineup. The Bulldogs won the NCAA championship in the 1V8+ last spring and returns the bulk of that boat, having graduated just two members of that crew. Backing up that pedigree in its spring opener last weekend, Yale went unbeaten across 10 races at the Doc Hosea Invitational to claim the Doc Hosea Cup while retaining the Connell Cup against Penn, facing the Quakers for the first time since 2022.

"This race is always a tough one," Coppola said. "Yale won the NCAA in the Varsity 8 last year and they only graduated two women from that 8+. With such a strong core back, it seems as though we'll be racing to see how close we can be to them as we work to get our bow ball in front of Syracuse."

Syracuse also enters this weekend's races after opening its spring season at the Doc Hosea Invitational last weekend. The Orange posted victories in the 1V8+ and 2V8+ against No. 8 Rutgers in the afternoon session following a runner-up finish in the 1V8+ against No. 9 Virginia earlier that day.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Subject to change
1 p.m. - 3V8+
1:15 p.m. - 1V8+
1:30 p.m. - 2V8+
1:45 p.m. - 1V4+
2 p.m. - 2V4+

LINEUP
To be announced