Syracuse falls short in Henley Finals
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Syracuse Men’s Rowing traveled to Henley-on-Thames, England, for the Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames River. A week long event, it was the program’s fifth time competing in the historic competition. After moving on all week, competition concluded with the Orange falling closely to Oxford Brookes-A in the Temple Challenge Cup final.
“Wow! What a tremendous week of racing,” Head Coach Dave Reischman said in a press release by Cuse.com. “I am so proud of our athletes from both our boats for how they represented the program, both on and off the water, on one of our sport’s biggest stages.
To start the week, on Tuesday, Syracuse began its Temple Challenge Cup run by defeating University of London’s A squad by a third of a length. Wednesday, the Orange out-raced Colgate, winning by open water on the 2112-meter course, advancing SU to the quarterfinals.
Friday, Syracuse took on A.S.R. Nereus-A and made history, becoming the first Syracuse unit to make the semifinals of the Temple Challenge Cup. Midway through the race, the Orange made a strong push to propel them ahead by three and three fourths lengths in the end.
Saturday, SU faced Oxford Brookes-B in the semifinals. Maintaining at least a length for most of the race, Syracuse ended up winning by two and a fourth lengths to advance to their first final in the Temple Challenge Cup.
In the Temple Challenge Cup final, the Orange came up just short to Oxford Brookes-A, losing by one and a fourth lengths. This was the first time a Syracuse boat had made the championship at Henley since 1988, when it was defeated by Vancouver Rowing Club in the Prince Phillip Challenge Cup. This was the second consecutive Temple Challenge Cup victory for Oxford Brookes.
The Temple Challenge Cup lineup for the Orange included four seniors including coxswain Bricen Nygaard, Emory Sammons, Connor Toomey and Ryan Elsinga who made their last collegiate appearances for Syracuse. Declan Fry, Sam Hobson, Mack Carr, Cole Nordby and Isaac Evans rounded out the rest of the unit.
