Men's crew teams win seven of eight weekend races

The weather might have been cold and wet this past weekend, but nonetheless it was nearly a perfect April Saturday for the Princeton men's crew teams.

Both the heavyweight and lightweight teams had very successful weekends, with every boat but one coming up victorious against Rutgers and Georgetown. While these victories were significant for the Tigers, the lone Princeton loss was a big one — the varsity lightweights fell by fewer than three seconds to a powerful Georgetown crew — and it put a damper on the team's overall success.

The lightweights had their hands full on Lake Carnegie against the Hoyas. Princeton opened the day's competition with three straight victories. The first race saw Princeton's third varsity defeat Georgetown's second freshman boat by over 30 seconds. Next, the first freshman boat cruised to a victory by over 15 seconds against the Hoyas' first freshman shell.

While the other races were important, the focus of the day's competition would be the battle between the two varsities. The second Tiger varsity won by a tighter margin of only six seconds, setting the stage for the final showdown.

It was in this last race that the Tigers finally faltered, falling to a fast Georgetown crew by fewer than three seconds.

The Hoyas came to Princeton off a 2.3-second loss to Yale's varsity, currently ranked No. 1 in the nation and last year's national champion. The race between the Hoyas and Bulldogs was close, with Yale holding just a two-seat lead until the race's final sprint.

Princeton's loss to the Hoyas, while disappointing, is nonetheless a minor setback as the boat continues to improve on its way to Eastern Sprints and the National Championships. The Tigers will look to move forward and get stronger in the weeks to come.

The next step for the lightweights will be a trip to Ithaca, N.Y., to race against Cornell this weekend. Last year the varsity defeated the Big Red by just under three seconds, with the Tigers sweeping all other races except for the second freshman fours. Last weekend, Cornell raced Ivy League rivals Penn and Harvard, defeating the Quakers but falling to the Crimson.

While the lightweights were battling the Hoyas on Lake Carnegie, the heavyweights traveled to New Brunswick, N.J. to race Rutgers on the Raritan River.

Perfect performance

The Tigers and the Scarlet Knights compete seasonally for possession of the Logg Cup, which goes to the overall winner of the competition. This season's performance was perfect, as Princeton came up victorious in all four races, which included races between each school's top two varsity and top two freshmen boats.

The closest of the four races came on the first varsity level, as Princeton came through with a four-second margin of victory. The cold, wet weather made for less than ideal race time conditions, but the Tigers nonetheless earned the victory they expected coming in. Princeton entered two crews in the second varsity race and both topped the Scarlet Knights' second varsity.

Princeton's freshmen emulated the success of the varsity, with the first freshman boat actually tallying the second-best overall time of the day — six minutes, 13 seconds in the two thousand meter race. That was good enough for a nearly 30-second victory against the overmatched Rutgers freshman crew, as well as a five-second differential between its time and the second varsity's.

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The heavyweights will next face Penn and Columbia at home Saturday in a contest for possession of the Childs Cup. Last year, Princeton took home the Cup with victories in all four races. The Tigers will look to repeat that success again this year, but this time with the comfort of the home course advantage.