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Syracuse University
IRA Regatta
Orange Finish 9th as a Team at IRA National Championship
5/31/2026 7:06:00 PM | Men's Rowing
The Syracuse men's rowing program closed out the 2026 IRA National Championship on Sunday at Lake Natoma with a ninth-place team finish, highlighted by a historic fourth-place result from the second varsity eight and top-10 finishes from all four Orange boats.
The second varsity eight, coxed by Sam Fernandez and stroked by Alex Dawallu, turned in the most memorable performance of the weekend, crossing the line fourth in the grand final with a time of 5:47.383 — the program's highest 2V8 finish at the IRA National Championship in more than 20 years. Washington won the event in 5:43.612, with Princeton (5:42.557) and Harvard (5:44.273) rounding out the top three. Syracuse trailed the field leaders by 4.826 seconds, finishing ahead of California and Brown.
"It's an incredible result for us as a program," Syracuse Associate Head Coach Connor Walters, who coached the 2V8 all season, said. "The key to success at the IRA [National Championship] is to progressively get better each race and these guys did that to a tee all weekend. In the final, they [2V8] did exactly what we said we needed to do and gave themselves an opportunity to be in the medals. And while we came up one spot short, it was our best race of the season and we wouldn't ask for more."
The varsity eight and third varsity eight each earned fourth-place finishes in their respective petite finals to round out the day. The V8, coxed by Lucas Tan and stroked by senior captain Cole Nordby, clocked a 5:46.852 to place 10th overall. The 3V8, coxed by Andrea Mantilla and stroked by Tiernan Flanagan, finished in 5:55.864 to claim 10th overall as well.
"The 2V result is a reflection of the whole program," Walters added. "So many guys raced and trained in this boat all season and that contributed to the success that this crew enjoyed this spring. I'm just really proud of every single guy in our program for being resilient, being hardworking and loving to do this work with each other."
On Saturday, the varsity four capped its weekend with an eighth-place overall finish, placing second in the petite final behind the efforts of freshman coxswain Connor Miller and freshman stroke Reid Nordstrom.
Syracuse's four-boat top-10 sweep reflects the depth of a program that has built steadily under head coach Dave Reischman, with Sunday's 2V8 grand final performance offering the clearest indication yet of the program's upward trajectory and depth within the team.Â
The 2026 season comes to an end with the Orange retaining the Goes Trophy (vs. Boston U and Navy), the 2V8 earning a bronze medal at Eastern Sprints, and the team's 9th-place finish at the IRA National Championship.Â
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