W. open weight crew hosts Rutgers, GW

In its last chance to rise in the rankings before the league championships, the women's open weight crew team hosts George Washington, Rutgers and Oregon St. this weekend.

Princeton already defeated the Scarlet Knights on April 5 in its season opener. The Tigers clocked in 13.2 seconds ahead of Rutgers in the first varsity race. They have not yet competed against the other two crews, which senior co-captain Lia Pernell describes as relative "unknowns."

Looking at the rankings, Princeton has a clear advantage. According to the USRowing.com Coaches Association Poll, the Tigers are down a spot from last week at No. 6 in the nation, while the Beavers are eight spots behind at No. 14. Neither the Colonials nor the Scarlet Knights appear on the Top 20 national list.

George Washington and Rutgers are ranked in the league's Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Coaches Poll, however — the Colonials hold the No. 12 spot, while the Scarlet Knights are two back at No. 14. Even in the EAWRC, Princeton ranks well ahead of these two at No. 3.

Still, as Kentucky basketball fans will tell you, rankings can deceive — they don't necessarily convert to a win.

Out of this weekend's three competitors, Oregon St. appears to be the Tigers' biggest challenge. The Beavers finished sixth in the San Diego Crew Classic in early April against top national teams. When Oregon St. faced No. 2 UC-Berkeley and No. 4 Stanford on April 19, it finished just under four seconds behind each. The Beavers have shown they can race with the best, and they should test Princeton's lack of experience against non-east coast teams.

"Oregon St. is expected to be tough competition," Pernell said. "They've done really well against west coast crews."

Even though the Tigers have defeated Rutgers before, it is difficult to gauge the Scarlet Knights' improvement since then. But on April 19, Rutgers lost to Penn — a team Princeton defeated the next weekend. Most recently, its top varsity boat placed third out of nine crews at the Big East Challenge in Worcester, Mass.

George Washington won't be a pushover, either. In early April, the Colonials clocked in a second behind No. 18 Tennessee and ahead of third-place Columbia, who the Tigers also defeated earlier this season. George Washington most recently tied with Rhode Island for second in team points out of nine crews at the Atlantic 10 Women's Rowing Championship, where its top varsity boat finished second behind Massachusetts.

"Both Rutgers and [George Washington] look to be gaining speed," said open weight coach Lori Dauphiny.

Gearing up

Saturday looks to be a day for some exciting races. Princeton has been working hard on its racing style to prepare for the weekend.

"This week we've been focusing on making some technical changes while still getting in the miles," Pernell said.

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The Tigers hope to stand strong against the other three crews, preserving or even improving upon their top-10 ranking.

"This weekend is going to be really tough racing," Pernell said. "It's also our last regular season race before [Eastern] Sprints, so it's one of our last chances to put the pieces together and put in a good race before the championships."

Coach Dauphiny summed up the team's strategy for the weekend.

"We will give it all we have," she said.

Women's racing begins at 11 a.m. Saturday with novice, second and third varsity races, and culminates in the top varsity race at noon.

The lightweight women's team does not race this weekend as it prepares for Eastern Sprints. The lightweight team is in a good position to repeat as EAWRC league champion, although several teams are looking to rob it of the title. As it looks ahead to the Sprints, Princeton must train hard to prevent such an upset.

The lightweight team already knows it will be taking the momentum of its April 19 win over Harvard/Radcliffe into the Sprints. It would be nice for both women's crew teams to go into these league championships fresh off a victory. It's up to the open weights to make that happen.