Women's lightweight crew wins Windermere Collegiate Crew Classic

The members of the women's lightweight crew team didn't have any trouble pulling their own weight this weekend at the Windermere Collegiate Crew Classic in Redwood Shores, Calif. The varsity eight blew Stanford out of the water in the finals Sunday morning, crossing the line in a blazing 6 minutes, 51.80 seconds, almost 10 seconds faster than the Cardinal, who clocked in at 7:01.61.

To earn the chance to compete in the finals, the Tigers first had to qualify on Saturday. Two separate Tiger boats participated. The Tigers' first boat was pitted against Radcliffe, No. 1 according to a USRowing.com poll. With a great deal riding on the outcome of this battle between two perennial powerhouses, the Tigers, the five-time defending national champions, made sure they stayed at the top of the field. No. 2 Princeton finished in 6:55.38, with the Crimson sliding in next with a time of 6:58.38.

The Tigers' second boat competed against Georgetown. The Hoyas finished over six seconds behind Princeton. The Tigers finished up in 7:15.20, well ahead of Georgetown's 7:21.31.

Despite these wins, head coach Heather Smith does not expect an easy season.

"I was impressed by Radcliffe, and I thought that Georgetown was very feisty," Smith said. "I expect to see tight races in the future and the team will not be resting on its laurels following these wins."

Not everyone got to make the trip out to California for the weekend, as the open team stayed behind and started its season against Brown and Ohio State. The Tigers' slogan for the weekend was simple — "Just wanna make this clear: we don't take kindly to visitors."

The No. 3 first varsity squad did defend its turf in finishing ahead of top-ranked Brown. Both teams were upset by the No. 9 Buckeyes, however.

Ohio St. finished with a time of 6:22.6, just over four seconds ahead of Princeton.

Where the varsity team failed, the novice succeeded. In the first novice eight race, the Tigers were behind early. They were able to mount a comeback and eventually finished with the impressive time of 6:41.40 to beat both Brown, who finished at 6:43.77, and Ohio St., who finished at 7:23.34.

"It was a fantastic way to start out our Princeton rowing careers," freshman Caroline Closmore said. "Not only did we get great race experience in winning from behind, but it was also rewarding to start out on the right foot."

In the second varsity race Princeton again finished second in 6:47.73, but this time it was Brown who crossed the line first. The Bears were by far the best team. They finished more than 10 seconds — the equivalent of almost three boat lengths — ahead of the Tigers.