Women's open perfect again in Ivy regular season

After suffering its first loss of the season last weekend at the hands of Harvard, the men's heavyweight crew could have asked for no better way to rebound than with wins against Ivy foes Cornell and Yale on Saturday at Lake Carnegie.

Princeton dropped to fourth place in the country after last week's loss to the Crimson, a significant blow for a team accustomed to success. This week the Tigers came out ready and were able to claim significant victories in two of the four races they rowed, including the all-important first varsity race. Princeton's first varsity boat finished with a time of five minutes, 34.5 seconds, more than eight seconds ahead of second place Cornell.

Off the starting line, the Tigers trailed for the first 300 meters. From the 300m marker on, though, it was all Princeton, as the first varsity was able to pull away from the pack.

"The varsity had a great race," head coach Curtis Jordan said. "They showed much more composure than last week. They executed the basics better and rowed to their ability."

The second varsity boat lost to both Yale and Cornell with differentials of 1.2 and 4.4 seconds, respectively. Coming in at 5:52.1, the boat struggled with Saturday's tailwinds, according to captain Spencer Washburn, who has been rowing in the second varsity boat as he battles back from an injury.

The third varsity eight also suffered a loss. They finished with a time of 6:06.6. Princeton's second victory came from the novice eight boat. With a time of 5:49.1, the freshman boat finished over 10 seconds ahead of second-place Yale.

Though the men's lightweights won three out of the four races on Saturday, they lost the one that counted most — the first varsity race.

Two weeks prior to Saturday's races, the Tigers' first varsity boat had defeated Georgetown in one of the closest races they rowed this season. On Saturday, the Hoyas earned revenge. At the regatta hosted by Penn on the Schuylkill River, Georgetown's top boat pulled ahead for the win. Only 3.4 seconds behind the first place Georgetown squad and 2.1 seconds behind second-place Penn, Princeton's first varsity finished with a time of 6:03.4.

The other three lightweight boats for the Tigers all won their races. The second varsity eight finished at 6:12.3, 2.1 seconds ahead of the Hoyas. Princeton's third varsity had a big finish with a time of 6:22.2, a time that was 33 seconds faster than Georgetown's third varsity eight.

The freshmen boat, whose only defeat this season was in its first race against the mighty Naval Academy, was also victorious by a substantial margin on Saturday. They finished with a time of 6:13.3, more than 16 seconds faster than Penn.

With the win in the first varsity race, Georgetown took home the Wood-Hammond Trophy.

'Like a people-mover'

Women's open had a big surprise when the arrived in Hanover, N.H., on Saturday. The dams had been opened in anticipation of some rainfall that was forecasted for Saturday, and as a result there were massive tail currents that made the times unusually fast.

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"Racing there was kind of like running the mile on an airport people-mover," head coach Lori Dauphiny said.

The Tigers had to adjust to racing with such strong currents, conditions foreign to Princeton since it practices on a lake. Despite the unusual conditions, the No.1 women's open squad was able to pull out the win and finish undefeated in the Ivy League for the second season in a row.

The first varsity eight finished with a time of 5:51.2, almost nine seconds ahead of second-place Dartmouth. Despite troubles off the starting line, the Tiger shell was able to retain the lead early in the race and build on the lead through the finish line.

The second varsity eight had an even more impressive victory, winning by a margin of over 15 seconds. Coming in at a time of 6:00.5, the Tigers had a fast start and never had to look back from there. Princeton's second varsity finished with a faster time than Dartmouth's first varsity boat.

For Dauphiny, the big story of the weekend was the first novice eight. Despite having struggled the past couple weeks, the freshmen were victorious on Saturday. They finished with a time of 6:14.2, 5.1 seconds ahead of Dartmouth.