CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, Sam Jasper’s seat in the varsity eight boat was misstated. He is seated fifth. Head coach Dave Reischman was also misquoted. The Daily Orange regrets these errors.

Before the Syracuse University men’s rowing team competed in the Head of the Genesee, junior Sam Jasper said he felt confident about the race because he did a lot of erging and running during the summer. Syracuse has also added more weight training and a ninth practice to its schedule.

But, it was the first time the team had competed in the Head of the Genesee since 2006. And it was against Brown University, one of the most successful collegiate rowing teams in the country.

“It’s kind of a crapshoot,” said Jasper, who sits fifth on the varsity eight boat.

The team finished second against Brown on Oct. 5.

Senior co-captain Jake Martens said the race was a confidence booster for the team as it starts its exhibition season. The Orange is using the fall as time to prepare for its main season in the spring to try to bounce back from last year’s subpar performance. In June, Syracuse placed 16th overall in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta, a drop from its fifth-place finish in 2012.

Martens said he had no idea how SU was going to do relative to a team like Brown.

“We didn’t necessarily go in expecting to beat them, but we were really interested to see where we stacked up against them,” he said. “It seemed like we were closer than what we thought.”

All programs go through ups and downs, head coach Dave Reischman said. He said one possible explanation for SU’s recent dip was the fact that the team had been on a “pretty successful streak.”

“Maybe we got a little too comfortable,” he said. “We’re pretty determined that we don’t get comfortable this year.”

Jasper also said that the rowers are not focusing as much on technique as they did in the spring.

“That really hurt us because when we got to the IRA’s, we weren’t ready to go hard as many times as we needed to,” he said. “Now we’re switching to focusing more on power, which is good because that’s what we needed.”

Another adjustment is ensuring that everyone continues to train during winter break.

“People in the past have slacked off in the winter season,” Jasper said. “It’s a common thing. It’s winter break, you don’t want to do anything, you’ve been training for four or five months. But it’s really important to keep your nose down in the grindstone and keep going.”

Aside from those changes, Reischman said SU’s main goal is to establish a work ethic and positive training environment, something that the team struggled with last year.

Martens echoed similar sentiments, adding that the mentality of the team has changed.

“Everybody is getting behind each other a lot more this year than last year and we also already told each other that we have much higher standards for our performances this year and we’re willing to do pretty much whatever we have to.”

The team will compete in the Head of the Charles in Boston on Sunday, but Reischman said participating in this race is to get another race in before the Princeton Chase, which is more important to them.

In general, both players and the coaching staff look at the exhibition races in a broader scope.

“Fall results aren’t always correlated to spring results,” Martens said. “You kind of have to take it with a grain of salt. It’s still very interesting to see where everybody is at this stage of the year.”

Reischman said it is too early in the year to tell if the team is on the right track.

“But I like the approach the guys have taken so far,” he said. “Everybody is being accountable for their own work ethic and doing the things they need to do.”

Published on October 17, 2013 at 12:55 am

Contact Ellen: ekmeyers@syr.edu | @ellenkmeyers