Ballerinas, pirates, angels, pigs, devils and a couple of Scotsmen showed up to celebrate Halloween a day late. While a 7:30 a.m. Saturday meet put Syracuse rowers to bed early Friday night, they did not miss out on the holiday fun.

The second annual Syracuse Smash provided the SU rowing team with lighthearted but competitive pairs races. Rowers from all over the Northeast competed. Some did so in costume on the choppy Onondaga Lake.

SU juniors Kelly McGrorey and Shawna O’Brien, who won last year’s race, placed third in 11:47, and it happened just three hours after they finished their first heat.

Race officials decided to move the event from the three-kilometer course to Onondaga Creek after boats in the first heat took on several inches of water on the lake. Some first-heat pairs raced again after the third heat to get comparable times on a calmer and shorter course.

‘Not everybody redid it, only people who wanted to,’ head coach Kris Sanford said. ‘The first race was obviously unfair because people were sinking.’

The SU leaders were seven seconds behind the winning Boston University tandem of Leanna Berger and Rachel Heckl, who finished in 11:40. Cornell’s Sarah Greer and Corbin Schrader finished second at 11:44. SU All-American junior Anna Goodale and sophomore Ineke DeSimone placed fifth in 11:54.

In the first Syracuse Smash event held last year, rowers experienced stormy conditions as blinding snow caused several collisions.

‘Last year was like a whiteout,’ junior Carolyn Taylor said. ‘You could hardly see your hand in front of your face. This year was more of a problem with the wind on the lake.’

Not only did the Orangewomen host the regatta, but after teams arrived in Syracuse on Friday afternoon, SU hosted a dinner for the other teams and provided them with lodging. SU rowers housed opposing teams’ players. Saturday concluded the festivities with brunch at the boathouse after the final heat.

‘We housed everybody who’s staying here,’ sophomore Mindy Reger said. ‘It’s a lot more laid-back than any of the other races.’

The Freshman and Varsity Eight teams will close out their seasons Nov. 9. The Freshman Team will compete for the Belly Bowl Trophy at the Belly of the Carnegie regatta in Princeton, N.J. The Varsity Eight Team will travel to Seattle, Wash., to race in the 22nd annual Head of the Lake regatta.

Then, SU will practice indoors for the winter. The Orangewomen will focus on conditioning and mental preparation to be ready in the spring. BU will visit Syracuse again March 27, along with Duke, to compete on Onondaga Lake.

‘It’s been a good fall for us,’ Sanford said. ‘I think that we have come a long way because of our young team, but I think we still have a long way to go.’

Published on November 2, 2003 at 12:00 pm