Women's open weight crew sweeps Penn, Dartmouth

The Tiger women's crew teams once again showed their league competitors who's boss this past weekend.

Each of Princeton's races against Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges teams belonged to the Tigers.

Members of the top lightweight boat did not compete, as they had already raced Harvard/Radcliffe three times this season. Some of their teammates — most novice but a few varsity — saw time on the water Saturday, however, when they traveled to Cambridge, Mass.

In the second varsity eights race, Princeton finished over 10 seconds ahead of both the Crimson and the Hoyas, who finished second and third, respectively. The Tiger novice fours also claimed victory in their races.

The open weight women traveled to Penn on Saturday to face the Quakers and Dartmouth on the Schuylkill River.

A staggered start made this course unique, but the biggest challenge for Princeton was its inability to practice on the river before the race.

"This is a day trip for us, so the first time the coxswains see the course is while they are actually racing on it," open weight coach Lori Dauphiny said.

Despite unfamiliarity with the Penn course — the Tigers have not raced there since 1999 — Princeton fared well against the Quakers and the Big Green.

The Tigers' top varsity boat separated itself from its competitors early and didn't look back. Their lead only increased as the race progressed. Princeton clocked in at 6:14.5, leaving Dartmouth over 15 seconds behind at 6:29.9. Penn brought up the rear at 6:33.3.

The Tigers' second varsity boat pulled off a narrow win over the same two teams. They finished just 1.2 seconds ahead of the Big Green, though the Quakers lagged over a quarter of a minute behind both.

The novice races were more of the same. In both the "A" and "B" novice fours, Princeton came out on top by more than five seconds.

Overall, coach Dauphiny was impressed with her team's performance Saturday.

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"The first varsity boat did a nice job; they stayed tough throughout the race," she said. "I was pleased that [the second varsity rowers] kept their composure as Dartmouth fought to take the lead."

As time winds down before the EAWRC Sprints, both women's crews are in a good position to do some damage to the competition.

The men, like the women, had a chance to make a huge statement this past weekend in two major regattas. The heavyweights traveled to Ithaca, N.Y. to battle Cornell and Yale for the Carnegie Cup. The lightweights, meanwhile, traveled to New Haven, Conn. to battle their biggest rivals, Harvard and Yale, for the Goldthwait Cup.

While both crews were forced to take to the road for their races, and were not aided by the comfort of their home course on Lake Carnegie, both teams had come up with strong showings on unfamiliar courses in earlier spring races. Both crews were thus optimistic heading into the weekend.

However, the optimism of both crews proved to be in vain, as each crew fell short of victory, and the teams returned from their road trips without either championship cup in their possession.

The heavyweights, ranked No. 7 in the nation, faced a tough opponent in No. 6 Cornell. Despite Cornell's slightly higher ranking, the Tigers were looking to replicate last year's close victory over the Big Red.

In 2003, however, the roles came to be reversed, and it was Cornell who edged the Tigers in a very close race. The final margin was 1.3 seconds in the Big Red's favor, while Princeton beat third place finisher Yale by nearly four seconds.

The Tigers fared better in the day's other races, winning three of the four lesser events. The freshmen heavyweights came up with Princeton's most dominating win, blowing away Cornell's freshmen eight by nearly 10 seconds, with Yale another three and a half seconds behind the Big Red.

The lightweights were also disappointed in their hopes for victory on Yale's home course. In the first varsity race, Harvard cruised to victory, defeating Yale by four and a half seconds with Princeton in third by another second and a half.

In the days other four races, Princeton won only the second varsity eight race, allowing Harvard to take home its 37th Goldthwait Cup. Princeton currently runs second in the H-Y-P Goldthwait Cup series, with 23 victories.

The lightweights must now wait until the May 10 Eastern Sprints for revenge over the Crimson and the Elis. The Tigers will train hard in the next two weeks to close the gap between the three crews.