W. crew finds victory with only seconds to spare

A second and a half. That's all that separated both the women's open weight and lightweight crew teams' first varsity boats from defeat Saturday.

Yale had hoped for a solid home victory as it hosted the Tigers' open weight squad. Harvard/Radcliffe, along with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, traveled to Princeton looking to put the first blemish on the lightweight women's crew's so-far-perfect record. Each of these teams, however, came up empty-handed against the Tigers on Saturday in the top varsity races.

In open weight action, Princeton sought a repeat of last year's home races against the Elis, when the Tigers took every race but the novice eights. Coming off a win that earned them the Yale Class of '85 Cup, the Elis tried to use their momentum against Princeton. This weekend, though, the Tigers enjoyed nearly as much success as last year: Princeton dropped just two out of six races on its way to earning the Eisenburg Cup, which it had also won the previous year.

Yale's winding course requires a staggered start, so each crew was unable to measure its relative progress until the finish. Still, the top varsity race turned out to be a close one. The Tigers were able to hold on to the win under smooth conditions despite pressure from the Elis.

"The Princeton boat really stayed strong throughout the race," senior co-captain Sasha Suda said. "Even when we were so close to Yale that we could hear what their coxswain was saying."

The top Tiger boat clocked in at 6:29.8 with the Elis breathing down their necks at 6:31.3.

"Yale is very fiery, and the race was very close this weekend," Suda said. "[The margin was] within a few seats, so we were really excited to come out with a win."

Princeton also chalked up wins in the second varsity eights, novice eights and third varsity fours races. In the varsity fours, the lone Tiger boat wound up in second place, sandwiched between Yale's 'A' and 'B' boats. The Elis also took the second novice eights race.

At the end of the day, Princeton proudly reclaimed the Eisenburg Cup, clinched by its top varsity eights win.

The No. 2 Crimson came to Lake Carnegie hungry for revenge against the top-ranked lightweight women. On March 29 at the Windermere Classic, the Tigers opened their season by defeating Radcliffe. One week ago at the Knecht Cup, Princeton pulled off a narrow win over the Crimson crew — just .4 seconds separated these two top varsity boats.

Once again, Radcliffe was frustrated in the varsity eights race. The Tigers improved on their previous margin of victory, this time finishing 1.46 seconds ahead of the Crimson boat — still an extremely tight race. Under fair conditions, Princeton pulled to an early lead in the first 500 meters.

Though Radcliffe did not let its competition pull away, the Tigers maintained the lead for the entire 2000 meters. Princeton posted a time of 7:12.8 to the Crimson's 7:14.26. MIT did not enter a boat in this race because of "personnel problems — injuries or illness," according to lightweight coach Heather Smith.

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Tiger crews also came out on top in the varsity four and novice four races, completing Princeton's sweep of Radcliffe and the Beavers. In the varsity fours, the Tiger 'A' crew clocked in first, followed by their teammates on the 'B' crew. The Crimson and MIT finished third and fourth, respectively. The Princeton novice fours came in more than 30 seconds ahead of their Beaver competitors. Radcliffe did not enter a boat.

Smith affirmed that the team had trained hard to prevent an upset against Radcliffe.

"We wanted to beat them and worked to improve the last 500 meters of our race," she said. "We still need to make improvements if we want to stay ahead."

As difficult as it is to maintain an undefeated season, the lightweight Tigers have been doing an excellent job so far.

Midway through the season, both women's crew teams appear to be among the nation's top contenders. The continuation of their achievements in next month's Eastern Association of Women's Rowing College and National Championships would be the mark of a successfull season.