Open crew wins Easterns

When the women's crews donned their spandex, hats and sunglasses and made the trip to Camden, N.J., for Eastern Sprint, they went with confidence. Though there were a few disappointments, most of the Tigers returned to Princeton with even greater confidence, the kind that comes from winning when it counts.

The No. 1 open crew took gold in two events, including the varsity eight, which secured both the Eastern championship and the Ivy League title for the Tigers. The lightweights took gold in the varsity four and the novice eight; the varsity eight, however, did not medal in a disappointing race.

For the open crew, the varsity eight was the first boat to cross the finish line in its grand final, finishing the Cooper River course in six minutes, 50.18 seconds, nearly eight seconds ahead of Ivy League rival Brown. Princeton has been ranked No.1 since the beginning of the season, and has stoutly defended the ranking, proving how much they deserve top honors.

The Tigers were in a similar situation last year at Sprints. As they did this year, the crew came into the regatta as the undefeated and the undisputed favorite. Last year, however, Princeton lost the grand final to Yale, so this year the Tigers came in more mentally focused and prepared for a grueling row. The day was especially difficult as the team had to row two races in one day: one to secure the No. 1 seeded Princeton a spot in the final race, and the the other to win the final itself.

"We're more experienced," head coach Lori Dauphiny said. "[We have a] stronger group of seniors this year, [and] learned from last year's season and this year's season."

The Tigers' second gold medal came from the novice eight's performance in its final race. The boat finished in 7:02.3, just under four seconds ahead of the Bears. The novice eight had a standout season, going undefeated and winning by good-sized margins in all of their races. Coming into the regatta, the novice eight was ranked first in the East, an honor they defended well this weekend.

Princeton's four other boats were unable to deliver finishes good enough for the Charles Willing Jr. Team Trophy, which went to Brown for the third year in a row. Brown took the trophy by having great depth across their boats, turning in two gold medal performances in the third varsity fours races.

The open crew now waits for its invitation to the NCAA championships, which will be held at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N. J., on Memorial Day weekend. Last year, the Tigers came in second at NCAAs, and hope to change their luck there in the same way they did at Sprints.

Lightweights disappoint

The women's lightweight crew went into Sprints with a No. 1 ranking and walked away from the regatta disappointed without a win by the varsity eight.

"The results were not what we were shooting for," senior coxswain Nicole Larrea said. "The race itself was not rowed to our full potential."

After defeating each of the major contenders for the top finish at some point during the season, Princeton finished in 7:30.16 for fourth place at Sprints, a full 16 seconds behind defending national champion Wisconsin. The closest boat to the Tigers was Georgetown's, which crossed the finish line more than six seconds ahead of Princeton.

The varsity four, however, turned in an excellent race on the Cooper River for the second time this season. Finishing in 8:21.01, the "A" boat took gold with a margin of 4.3 seconds over Radcliffe's "A" squad. The Tigers' "B" boat took bronze in the race with a finishing time of 8:28.06.

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The Orange and Black's final medal at the regatta came from the novice eight, who dominated the field with a finishing time of 7:37.02.

The lightweight crew is set to return to the Cooper River course in three weeks time for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship. Only the varsity eight will compete, and they will certainly be looking for a little revenge.

"We will be training hard the next three weeks working toward putting in a well-rowed race and a better result at IRAs," Larrea said.