Women's Rowing History - Syracuse University Athletics

Syracuse Rowing Coaching History
1977-79	Mark Lyvers
1980-81	Jan Palchikoff
1982-84	Debra Quinn
1985-87	Gary Jordon
1988-95	Chris Lang
1996-2009	Kris Sanford
2010-18	Justin Moore
2019-present	Luke McGee

A volunteer coach and borrowed equipment were the basis of the Syracuse University rowing club in the early 1970s. With the leadership and persistence of captain-manager Lori Barnett, the program prospered during the club stage and was granted varsity status in 1977.

Mark Lyvers, captain and stroke of the 1977 men’s varsity eight, was appointed the first head coach of the Syracuse women’s varsity rowing team. In 1980, Lyvers was succeeded by Jan Palchikoff, a member of the 1975 national rowing team and a 1976 Olympian. When Palchikoff left Syracuse in 1982 to work for the U.S. Olympic Organizing Committee, novice coach Debra Quinn was promoted to the varsity position. Quinn hired Gary Jordon to direct the novice program. Jordon replaced Quinn as the varsity coach in 1985.

In 1988, Chris Lang, a former rower at Oregon State University, was appointed varsity coach. In the spring of 1990, the varsity eight boat made Syracuse history by making its first appearance at the National Collegiate Rowing Championship in Madison, Wis. Up until 1996, the team went on to medal in major races, including the Collegiate Championship and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship.

In the spring of 1996, novice coach and recruiting coordinator Kris Sanford was promoted to head rowing coach. Sanford, with the help of novice coach and recruiting coordinator Craig Milburn, established SU as one of the elite rowing programs in the country. In her debut season in 1997, Sanford guided the varsity eight to its best finish ever at Eastern Sprints and a spot in the inaugural NCAA Championship.

After a three-year hiatus from the NCAA Championship, the Orange returned in 2000 and placed ninth.

The spring of 2001 was the best season in the history of the program. Cementing Syracuse’s place among the nation’s best were school-best showings at the Eastern Sprints (third) and the NCAA Championship (sixth), a top-five national ranking, and eight consecutive race victories en route to defeating 21 teams. The Orange went on to win the following two Big East Championships in 2002 and 2003 before finishing on the podium in all but two of the seasons from 2004-2013.

Following the 2013 season, the Orange joined the ACC and have competed in the conference since. After posting nine consecutive finishes in the top-three at the conference championships, the Orange claimed their first ACC Championship in the spring of 2024, narrowly edging out the University of Virginia for the top spot on the podium. In addition to the strong showings in conference, the Orange have earned a bid to the NCAA Championships in eight of the last nine seasons.

THE EAWRC
The Eastern Association of Women’s Rowing Colleges (EAWRC) is one of the top women’s rowing leagues in the nation. The league includes the collegiate national champion women’s crews from 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2011. Brown's 2011 title marked the seventh time in 13 years that the Bears were crowned national champions (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011). The association, which was formed in the 1970s, is administered through the ECAC's office.

The following schools make up the EAWRC: Boston College, Boston University, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, George Washington, MIT, Navy, Northeastern, Penn, Princeton, Radcliffe, Rutgers, Syracuse, Wisconsin and Yale.

EASTERN SPRINTS
Each spring, Syracuse competes against other top crews at the Eastern Sprints Championship. The races, organized by the Eastern Association of Women’s Rowing Colleges (EAWRC), take place in Camden, N.J.

The first Sprints were held on Rodgers Lake in Old Lyme, Conn. in 1972 and alternated at other sites before being moved to Lake Waramaug in 1979. The Eastern Sprints stayed at Lake Waramaug until 2000 when it outgrew the site because of three varsity events, three novice events and an open lightweight division.

The Orange’s best varsity eight finish at the event came in 2001 when it placed third.

In 2007, the Orange posted its best overall team showing, finishing sixth out of 18 crews. SU had a school-record three boats qualify for grand finals (novice four, novice eight, varsity four). The novice four posted a second-place finish, while the novice eight and varsity four were fourth and fifth, respectively.

THE BIG EAST YEARS
Syracuse rowed in the BIG EAST Conference from 2001 to 2013, winning the first three conference titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003 when the championship was known as the BIG EAST Challenge (2001-04). Notre Dame went on to win the next 10-straight BIG EAST titles, with the Orange finishing second overall in 2009 and 2012. SU took bronze medal honors overall in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2013.

In 2002, Syracuse received its first team bid to the NCAA Championship after placing fifth at Eastern Sprints and retaining its BIG EAST Rowing Challenge title. The Orange finished 12th overall in the Division I trophy results with 13 points.

The Syracuse varsity eight won its third straight title at the BIG EAST Rowing Challenge in 2003, and Sanford earned conference Coach of the Year honors for the third consecutive year. The novice eight and novice four also won BIG EAST Rowing Challenge crowns for the second straight time. At Eastern Sprints, the varsity eight placed sixth, while the novice four finished second in its division.
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The Orange returned to the NCAA Championship in 2005. The varsity eight represented Syracuse after winning the BIG EAST Championship and placing fifth at Eastern Sprints.

Justin Moore took the Syracuse head coaching reigns in 2010 after a stellar coaching stint at Division III Williams College. He guided the Orange to a fourth-place finish at the BIG EAST Championship in his first season.

In 2012, Syracuse claimed gold in the varsity four, becoming the first SU boat to win a BIG EAST title since the novice eight in 2009 and the first varsity boat since the 2005 varsity eight.

In its final BIG EAST Championship in 2013, the Orange won two silver medals (varsity eight and third varsity eight) and three bronze medals (second varsity eight, first varsity four and second varsity four). At the conclusion of its season, the Orange was ranked No. 19 in the May 29 CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll, its highest ranking in eight years.

THE ACC ERA
A new era in Syracuse women’s rowing began in 2014 as the Orange made its debut in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the premier collegiate women’s rowing conferences in the country. Most recently, Virginia won the 2010 and 2012 NCAA Championship title.

In 2016, Syracuse earned an at-large invitation to the NCAA Championship. It marked the Orange’s first trip, as a team, to the annual national championship regatta since 2002. The club outperformed its seeding in two of the three races it competed in and placed 13th overall.

Syracuse returned to the NCAA Championship in 2017 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. The Orange second varsity eight, the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference champion and Crew of the Year, and first varsity four crews placed 11th overall, guiding the team to a 13th-place showing.

Luke McGee took over as the Head Coach for the Orange in 2019 and has since led Syracuse to six consecutive top-three finishes at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships from 2019-25. McGee and the Orange captured the program's first-ever ACC Championship in 2024, narrowly edging out the University of Virginia for the conference's top spot. The win came in dramatic fashion, with the championship coming by virtue of winning the varsity eight race. McGee made sure to credit former members of the team for laying the foundation for a championship-level culture.

"This means everything," said McGee. "We have been working toward this for the past six years. Every woman who has come through this program since I have been here, making us a little bit better, a little bit faster, a little bit stronger, and then this team actually breaking through and winning the ACC championship and getting to the mountaintop, like we have been saying all year, is really special."

The Orange have earned a spot in the NCAA Championships in five consecutive seasons under McGee, stretching from 2021 to 2025. The ACC Championship team also notched the Orange's top overall finish at the NCAA Championships, coming in 11th place, spearheaded by an 8th place finish from the Varsity 8 crew.