No. 3 men's heavyweight crew hosts Rutgers

Saturday's forecast — high 52, overcast, scattered showers and some of the nation's most exciting races between the elite crew programs.

Rain or shine, Lake Carnegie will be pounded by the oars of Princeton, Rutgers, Columbia and Georgetown this weekend as the lightweight and heavyweight men's teams will fight for the first victories of their young spring seasons.

No. 17 Rutgers (2-0) faces off against the No. 3 heavyweight squad in a race that will certainly be a challenge for the Tigers.

Rutgers comes to Princeton after posting one of the strongest seasons in its history last year, including a trip to the finals of the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta. Recently the Scarlet Knights defeated both Columbia and Georgetown, two rowing powerhouses, proving that they are capable of another successful season.

"I'm sure they are gearing up for this weekend," head coach Curtis Jordan said. "We have a healthy rivalry, and both want to walk away with the state title."

Not having beaten Princeton in 13 years, Rutgers will be eager to take on the Tigers. But Princeton is coming into the race with momentum, having bagged a big win over Navy last weekend in their opening race in the Windermere College Classic. The Tigers blew by the Midshipmen early in the race, pulling across the finish line nearly four seconds before Navy. Princeton finished the race in five minutes, 46.72 seconds, while the Midshipmen clocked in at 5:50.81. Coming off this win, the Tigers are well prepared for the race both mentally and physically and are excited to continue the Princeton rowing tradition of success. The No. 1 lightweight team did not have the same kind of success as its heavyweight brethren against Navy last weekend. The varsity eight lost to the Midshipmen by just over six seconds in the head-to-head matchup. The news was better after the second varsity race, as these Tigers followed the heavyweight lead and downed Navy by just over four seconds.

The lightweight rowers will be looking to do the same when they host No. 5 Georgetown and No. 6 Columbia. After a disappointing and embarrassing loss to the Hoyas last season, the Tigers are taking this weekend very seriously and preparing themselves for the tough competition. The rowers have been pushing themselves all week to improve on some of the faults that caused last week's loss to Navy, and they are looking forward to getting back on the water.

"We want to be as fast as possible," head coach Joe Murtaugh said. "And Navy provided us with an assessment of how far we need to go. Navy led from start to finish, so we need to get better across the board."

The team is hoping to turn its early season around with two victories this weekend, but the rowers will have to dig deep and row hard in order to do so.

"How we do this weekend will be a function of how resilient we are, whether or not any of the improvements we've made take and the speed of Georgetown and Columbia," Murtaugh said.