LIVERPOOL, N.Y. – The No. 12 Wisconsin men's rowing team showed promise in its spring opener against No. 10 Syracuse Saturday in New York, capturing the varsity eight race, though the Badgers did drop the second and third varsity eight contests.
 
Wisconsin opened the spring season in dismal conditions, facing sub-freezing race temperatures and choppy water that forced the course to be reconfigured.
 
The varsity eight led the way for Wisconsin, defeating Syracuse's top boat by a full two seconds to claim the Badgers' victory. The Badgers recorded the fastest race time of the day, clocking in at six minutes and 8.2 seconds over 2000 meters. 
 
The second varsity eight's efforts to comeback late in the race came up short, and the Badgers dropped the second heat by nearly five seconds, finishing with a time of 6:14.1. 
 
After racing out to an early lead, the third varsity eight seemed to run out of steam in the final 250 meters, allowing the Orange to battle back to take the second race with a time of 6:33.4. The Badgers crossed the finish line with a time of 6:35.1. 
 
Up Next: 
The Badgers travel to the west coast next weekend to compete in the Stanford Invitational in California. 
 
Straight From the Lake
Head Coach Chris Clark: 
"The conditions reminded us exactly of Mendota at this time of year so we had to move the course, which is something they say they haven't done much, but that's pretty normal for us. We had real cold wind chills and the race time temperature was definitely less than 32 but we got them off." 
 
On the varsity eight
"The first eight performed exactly the way seniors are supposed to. We have six seniors who have gone through a lot here. What they're showing now is the kind of maturity that often comes earlier, maybe during their junior year, but due to all sorts of factors here, it came late. Believe me, late is better than never. They looked very poised and attacked in a manner that I haven't seen here in quite a while. They've been able to attack and maintain, and that's the traditional Wisconsin rowing style. We go out and we go hard."
 
On the second varsity eight
"In the 2V, we never looked like we had a groove from the get-go. Looking at the results from the fall, the Princeton Chase, we had beaten them by about one second. That 2V, I knew it would be close. The coxswain tried a few moves to speed it up but it just slowed us down. I think there are only two guys who have ever even been in the 2V. They've only been third boaters or lower, so I think nerves got to them as well. There's nothing that prepares you more for a race than racing more." 
 
On the third varsity eight
"The third eight, we really had that in the bag until the last 250, and they gave it up. We just didn't go hard enough when it mattered. That boat looked pretty slick, had some good boat speed, so it was probably a win they should have had so I know they're disappointed about it." 
 
"All in all, it was an excellent start to the season. Next weekend is just brutal out in California. We're coast-to-coast. We travel to the east coast and then we travel right back to the west coast next week. This is a hard go but the guys are excited about it."

Wisconsin vs. Syracuse
Onondaga Lake
Liverpool, N.Y.
April 7, 2018
2,000 meters
 
Varsity Eight
1. Wisconsin 6:08.2, 2. Syracuse 6:10.5
UW Lineup: Theodore Van Beek (cox), Tristan Amberger, Nickolas Montalvo, Andrew Griffin, Jonah Van der Weide, Kyle McCarthy, James Bernard, Jacob Wenner, Thomas Walker
 
Second Varsity Eight
1. Syracuse 6:09.9, 2. Wisconsin 6:14.1
UW Lineup: Ian Tunney (cox), Dylan Adams, Tyler Stevens, Nathan Petersen, Kurt Mueller, Adam Wehking, William Alt, Alexander Butler, Andrew Flannery
 
Third Varsity Eight
1. Syracuse 6:33.4, 2. Wisconsin 6:35.1
UW Lineup: Kaz Kishiue-Koval(cox), John Hollow, Evan Miller, Christoph Bub, Philipp Bogdanov, Jacob Hurlbutt, Benjamin Waller, Henry Roberts, Jacob Buboltz