Host crew teams excel against tough field at Princeton Chase

Princeton's crew teams had strong showings all across the board in last weekend's three-mile regatta, the Princeton Chase. The Tigers have enjoyed great success at Lake Carnegie in the past, and last week was no exception.

Helped by fast conditions due to a cranking tailwind, Princeton performed well against an incredibly strong field.

"There wasn't just one team we were looking to defeat. Everybody there was competitive," men's lightweight coach Joseph Murtaugh said.

The Tigers looked fierce on their home course as two crews claimed Princeton Chase victories. The men's lightweight four rowed to first place honors with a time of 14 minutes, 25.01 seconds, nearly four seconds faster than the second place crew from Harvard.

Princeton's victory in the men's lightweight four ended the Princeton Chase on a high note, since it marked the first time in two years that the Tigers' top boat defeated its counterparts from Yale. The Elis posted a third-place finish in the day's final event, a full seven seconds behind Princeton.

"I was really happy with all of the results, and the top boat showed great improvement," Murtaugh said.

Although the men's lightweight four victory was surprising, the biggest shock of the day was provided by the men's lightweight eight third boat. It defeated the first boats from Columbia, Rutgers, Dartmouth and Georgetown, finishing eleventh overall at 13:31.36.

The women's openweight crew notched the other Tiger victory at the Chase in convincing fashion. Princeton's first boat soundly trounced its competition, finishing in 14:07.16 seconds, more than twenty seconds faster than the second-place crew from Yale. The "A" boat won this event for the second year in a row, and the other Princeton crews turned in competitive times as well.

"The 'A' boat won more convincingly this year, and the 'C' boat did well, finishing ahead of all the other 'C' boats," women's open coach Lori Dauphiny said.

The Tigers also dominated the men's heavyweight eight as two Princeton crews finished in the top four, and the "C" boat finished tenth overall. The Tigers' "A" boat was the top American finisher and second overall with a time of 12:59.55. The crew from the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, took the race's top honors, edging Princeton by about four seconds. The Tigers' "B" squad finished fourth overall with a time of 13:09.84, first in its class, ahead of several other schools' "A" boats.

The men's lightweight eight crew edged Navy by two seconds for second place overall, overcoming a 10-second deficit in the process. Princeton finished 10 seconds behind the Elis, but gained an incredible twenty seconds on the Yale crew during Sunday's heat. The Tigers crossed the finish line at 13:03.79.

The day's tightest race occurred in the women's open division, which included open and lightweight boats, as three lightweight crews finished within four seconds of each other. Princeton finished less than a second behind Radcliffe and just ahead of Villanova to place among the top three lightweight boats in the open class.

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"The lightweight crew showed real improvement over its performance at Boston the week before," women's lightweight coach Heather Smith said.

Another tight finish occurred in the men's heavyweight four. The Tigers' lost in the final seconds of the race as Temple nudged ahead to claim a hard-fought victory. Temple's "A" boat finished the race at 14:34.42, and Princeton's "B" side was mere tenths of a second behind it at 14:35.24. The Tigers' "A" and "D" boats finished third and fifth, respectively.

From start to finish, Princeton was simply tough to beat in each division.