Princeton's crew teams competed on four courses in three states this weekend, but in each case, the result was the same — a victory for the Tigers.
The No. 1 nationally ranked men's heavyweight squad blew past Columbia and Penn on the Cooper River in Camden to improve to 4-0 on the season and defend its Childs Cup Regatta title.
With a time of 6:07.7, Princeton's first varsity boat finished more than 14 seconds ahead of second place Columbia. The Tigers' second varsity boat also won by a comfortable margin. At 6:26.4, they finished nearly 14 seconds ahead of Penn's second varsity boat. The first novice eight came in second, beating Columbia but losing to Penn.
Princeton must turn its attention to what could be the most difficult race of the season. No. 3 Harvard visits Lake Carnegie on Saturday, and the Crimson will undoubtedly make the Tigers prove that they deserve to hold that No. 1 spot.
"Harvard is always a tough team to race," head coach Curtis Jordan said. "They are coming off of two consecutive years as national champs. Even though they have lost many of their top 16 to graduation, they are very deep, and I am sure they will be at top form."
Hoyas humiliated
After losing to Georgetown several times last season, the men's lightweight squad (2-1) made sure this year's meeting turned out differently, sweeping the Hoyas in all four races at Lake Carnegie on Saturday.
Both varsity eight races were very close. With a time of 6:15.6, Princeton's first varsity eight finished just over three seconds ahead of Georgetown. The margin of victory for the second varsity eight was even closer than the first. Coming in at 6:30.6, the Tiger boat finished only one and a half seconds ahead of the Hoyas' second varsity boat.
Both the third varsity eight and the novice eight had more comfortable wins in their races. The third varsity boat finished 25.6 seconds ahead of Georgetown with a time of 6:39.9. The novice boat finished 31.1 seconds ahead of their competitor with a time of 6:29.
The lightweights will practice hard this week in preparation for this weekend's races against Cornell and Rutgers in Ithaca, N.Y., on Saturday. The Big Red is always a tough opponent, and the Scarlet Knights have been rowing well this spring. Rutgers lost to Navy by a smaller margin and defeated Columbia more easily, so the lightweights know they will face a challenge.
"The league has never been more competitive with as much parity, and if we don't continue this progess, our results won't continue to be positive," head coach Joe Murtaugh said.
Women still No. 1
In what was expected to be one of the toughest matchups that the women's open team (6-0) would have all season, the Tigers were able to put two more tallies in the win column. Defeating Radcliffe and Cornell this weekend on the Charles River in Cambridge, Mass., Princeton's varsity eight retained their No. 1 national ranking with a slim victory in the first varsity eight race.
The first varsity eight won by a margin of 2.3 seconds, topping second place Radcliffe with a time of 6:24.5. The second varsity eight had a little more breathing room in their race, beating Radcliffe by seven seconds in a time of 6:42.7.
"Every boat raced hard, and in general there was significant improvement across the board," head coach Lori Dauphiny said.
This weekend, the women's open will row against Yale in New Haven, Conn.
Sunny California
Coming off an extra week of rest, women's lightweight had an impressive showing in the Windermere Classic in Redwood Shores, Calif. Finishing 2-1 for the weekend, Princeton defeated both Stanford and Cal by large margins and fell to defending national champion Wisconsin by a slim 3.12 second margin.
On Saturday morning, the Tigers raced against Cal and finished with a time of 6:59.91, more than 27 seconds ahead of Cal. That afternoon Princeton lost to Wisconsin, which finished with a time of 7:15.72. The Tigers redeemed themselves against Stanford on Sunday, however, with a time of 6:49.09, more than 14 seconds faster than their competitor.
Next weekend, the women's lightweight team will try to defend their title at the Knecht Cup, hosted by Villanova at the Cooper River in Camden.
"We will continue to work on our explosiveness and ability to click at higher rates as we head towards the Knecht Cup," head coach Paul Rassam said. "There is a lot more speed that we can squeeze out of this group of athletes."
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