Heavyweight m. crew wins Childs Cup over Penn, Columbia

Heavyweight men's crew triumphed over two Ivy League teams last weekend to come home with the Childs Cup, the oldest colnegiate rowing trophy in the country.

This was the 125th anniversary of the competition between Princeton, Penn and Columbia. These three teams first faced off in 1879, and have met every year since then. This was the 37th time the Tigers were able to come away with the win and a nice cup to match.

The Tigers dominated the race from start to finish, winning their 11th consecutive Childs Cup in convincing fashion.

The Tigers sailed in at six minutes, 15.9 seconds, a whopping 16 seconds ahead of their closest competitor, the Quakers, who finished with a time of 6:31.7. Columbia brought up the rear at the 6:44.6 mark.

Senior captain Tyson White was humble in his remarks about the win.

"I think we executed our race plan very well," White said. "We go into every race trying to work with the strength of the crew, and I think things are progressing nicely."

This weekend, the Tigers were able to effectively overcome the elements,including a strong head wind.

Head coach Curtis Jordan echoed White's sentiments about the team's performance.

"The varsity did what I asked," Jordan said. "Penn is always a very tenacious and competitive crew. I wanted the varsity to match that tenacity with a strong, professional race. They did a great job right from the first stroke."

In stark opposition to the success of their upperclassmen teammates, the Tigers' novice boat did not perform up to their standards this weekend. Rather, the team suffered its first loss in a race since 2002, as it finished second to Penn.

Though the result was disappointing, the race was very close, with Penn finishing less than one second in front of the Tigers. Princeton came in with a time of 6:25.3 while the Quakers finished in 6:24.7. Columbia stood no chance in the race, finishing with a time of 6:55.2. "Penn established an early lead which the [novice crew] took back with a tremendous charge at the end," Jordan said. "Unfortunately, they came up less than six feet short in the end. I expect with hard work they will turn those results around."

Despite this setback, the mentality of the team looking forward is generally an optimistic one, as the Tigers have already begun the process of moving past their disheartening loss.

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"It's a disappointment, but you can't take it like that," freshman Michael Malecek said. "You have to make it an inspiration to do better the next time around."

Princeton's open weight women traveled to upstate New York this past weekend for their first away race of the season.

The team set out excited to see what Radcliffe in particular could dish out in terms of competition, but it appeared to be nothing they couldn't handle.

The Tigers beat Radcliffe by two seconds, and Cornell by 14 in the varsity eight race to remain undefeated in Ivy League competition this season.

Head coach Lori Dauphiny was pleased with the results. "Harvard pressed hard which made for a fast 2000-meter race," she said.

They topped Radcliffe and Cornell again in the novice races. Of particular note was the performance of the first novice boat, which earned a dominating 20 second win over Radcliffe.

"Remaining undefeated is very important to us, especially at this point in the season because the rankings for sprints come out this week," freshman Genevra Stone said.

The Tigers did not leave with a completely unblemished record, however, suffering defeats in the varsity four and second varsity eight races.

Men's and women's lightweight crews had this past weekend off, and spent the time gearing up for upcoming races. The women race next weekend in the Knecht Cup in Camden, N.J. against powerhouses including Georgetown and Wisconsin.