Syracuse women’s rowing head coach Kris Sanford was not pleased with the results of the Orange Challenge Cup last weekend but was still able to find some satisfaction.

Sanford knew Syracuse would be given a rare opportunity this weekend: a head-to-head race against Northeastern, a team that beat SU last weekend. Teams rarely race in back-to-back weeks, although the Orange welcomes the revenge opportunity.

The Orange hopes to take advantage of the rematch and work on finding a better rhythm when it races in the Charles River Classic in Boston on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to facing the Huskies, SU will race against Southern California, Radcliffe and Dartmouth Saturday morning, and Boston University and Texas Sunday morning. The winner between Syracuse and BU will claim the Kittell Cup.

‘I talked before the meet last weekend to the Northeastern coach and we laughed and said it will be a grudge match next weekend,’ Sanford said. ‘I think we’ll be able to go into that race with nothing to lose. I don’t feel like we put together the best race that day and we’ve learned from that.’

Junior captain Allison Doodeman said the weekend will be ‘great’ because the Orange has tapes of Northeastern and scouting tips, such as when the Huskies make their moves in the water. The rematch also allows Syracuse to see if it has been able to close the gap between the two squads in one week. The gap SU is trying to close is 7.5 seconds, the time the Huskies’ varsity eight beat the Orange by last weekend.

Northeastern head coach Joe Wilhelm said the weekend will allow him to see how the practices are affecting the team’s boat speed. He also said the second varsity eight particularly wants a rematch.

‘We’re looking forward to racing Syracuse again, regardless of what happened last weekend,’ Wilhelm said. ‘Our second varsity eight that lost to Syracuse by a pretty close margin (1.1 seconds) they want another shot.’

With time to prepare for a familiar opponent, the Orange has gone back to the drawing board and is trying to fine-tune some skills, especially the rhythm of the boat. Doodeman said that last weekend the boat had a hard time finding rhythm for the first 500 meters of the race, which in turn slowed them down. The better the rhythm of the boat, the more efficiently the team can row. Doodeman guaranteed the race would be closer if the team has better rhythm this weekend.

The race will be different from last week, though, because of the type of course. Senior Ruth Frantz said in the race for the Orange Challenge Cup, the race begin with a staggered start because of the turn in the course, which did not allow the SU boat to see its competition for some time. They did not know how much ground they had to make up until the end of the race and Frantz is hoping for help from this weekend’s course, which Sanford called ‘very fair.’

‘I think mentally it makes a difference,’ Frantz said. ‘A staggered start is a fair race, but it’s tough just knowing your starting behind.’

The race will also be a challenge for both teams because of the race’s start time. Both teams race in the morning and the head-to-head race will be their second of the day.

‘We’re both racing very tough competition in the morning,’ Wilhelm said. ‘That’s going to come up pretty big in the afternoon. Mental toughness and physical condition is really going to play a big role.’

Sanford has prepared the team for two races in a day and for similar ones down the road, such as the Big East Championships or Eastern Sprints.

Although the rare rivalry match will be have some extra excitement, Sanford was quick to point the importance of the entire weekend – one she said is going to be the most important for the team.

‘We’re racing three times and against good crews each time,’ Sanford said. ‘If we can be successful, it’s going to help with confidence and help us move into the next two weeks.’

Published on April 12, 2007 at 12:00 pm