Freshman Heidi Bulk had not participated in a collegiate dual meet, but she still knew the importance of the Syracuse women’s rowing team’s race for the Cayuga Cup on Saturday.

Last season SU had one of its weaker years in recent history, struggling in dual meets and failing to qualify a single boat for the NCAA Championship. It also finished third out of three teams in the varsity eight in the Cayuga Cup last year. A good start to the season was essential to rebounding in 2007.

‘It’s always good to start the season and have good races and good results,’ said Bulk, who was part of the second varsity eight. ‘Everyone decided that we’re not going to let past years get us down.’

The philosophy seemed to work, as the team placed second in every one of the six races for the Cayuga Cup in Ithaca this weekend against Cornell and Yale, beating the Big Red in every race except the novice four, which is only for freshmen. Yale won every race they competed in.

‘It was a morale booster,’ Bulk said. ‘I feel if it had gone badly or if we had lost to Cornell, it could’ve been a disappointment that could get us in the wrong attitude.’

Head coach Kris Sanford said the performance was pretty good, but more importantly, a confidence booster.

‘Anyone we beat right now is going to help us to gain confidence when we had such a tough year last year,’ Sanford said. ‘I think all of our boats down the line rowed very solid pieces and did exactly what we asked them to do, and that’s good in the sense that’s were progressing toward our ultimate goals.’

Sanford also said the meet showed the team’s progression during the past year, considering Cornell did better than them in the same meet last season.

Last season the team placed third in the varsity eight. The team was also third in the novice eight by 14 seconds last season, compared to eight seconds on Saturday.

The squad returned eight seniors this year, though, including tri-captains Nora Creahan, who spent time last season in the second varsity eight, and Katie Schneider, who competed in the varsity eight.

Freshman Kaitlin Grant, who competed as part of the novice eight and second varsity four, felt Saturday’s strong meet will make a long-lasting impression.

‘It kind of set the tone for the rest of the season,’ Grant said. ‘It gave us confidence coming into this weekend and gave us the confidence to know we can beat some of the teams that are coming up in the next few weeks. It showed that we are a lot better than last year and we can push further into the season with the confidence we gained from this race.’

Sanford, though, is not as quick to proclaim the race as the turning point of the season. She placed more emphasis on the progress the meet shows from last year and the reasons behind it.

‘Team dynamic, team atmosphere and I think that people trained hard over the summertime, and came in with a certain mindset and goals,’ Sanford said. ‘And really a commitment to the program, a commitment to the philosophy of the program, and people have followed it all the way through. Everybody really feels like we have done everything we can to be where we are and we’re just going to continue to improve.’

Published on April 2, 2007 at 12:00 pm