No. 1 women's lightweight boat stays on top

It was a rough weekend for all the Princeton crews except the No. 1 women's lightweight squad, which continued its perfect season with a victory over Radcliffe. The rest of the Tiger squads fell in hard-fought battles, as the No. 7 women's open team took on higher ranked non-Ivy foes and the men's lightweight and heavyweight crews took on traditional Ivy foes.

The women's lightweights preserved their undefeated streak by topping seasoned Radcliffe on the Charles River on Saturday. Princeton won three of four races on that day, including all three varsity showdowns. The Tigers came away victorious with a resounding 10 second win in the first varsity race in seven minutes, 3.1 seconds, claiming the Class of 1999 Cup. The Tigers' second varsity eight (7:06.1) and the varsity four (8:10.6) both won decisively by more than 20 seconds. Princeton's only loss of the day came in the novice eight. Princeton is now 7-0 on the season and will be the favorite at Eastern Sprints on May 13.

In the women's open action on Saturday, the No. 7 Tigers lost to No. 5 Virginia and No. 6 Notre Dame on Lake Carnegie but put in a strong performance by clocking in at 6:25.0. The varsity eight race was close, with the Tigers trailing the Fighting Irish's 6:19.1 finish by less than six seconds. George Washington also competed, coming in fourth at 6:47.5. The Tigers registered a crushing win in the novice four race, finishing over 25 seconds ahead of Notre Dame. The second varsity eight came in second, 1.6 seconds behind Virginia, and the Tigers' varsity four also came in a strong second.

The Princeton men's lightweight crew took on traditional rivals Harvard and Yale in the Goldthwait Cup. The Tigers' varsity boat finished second in the race on Lake Carnegie, defeating Yale but losing to Harvard. Princeton's time of 5:55.0 was a mere four seconds behind Harvard's winning time of 5:51.8. Yale pulled up the rear with a time of 6:02.8. The Princeton second varsity boat was also runner-up, this time to Yale in a time of 6:04.3. The Bulldogs were victorious in all four other races on the day, however, including both novice races. The Tigers' third varsity squad came close with its time of 6:09.4, less than a second behind Yale, and the first novice time of 6:02.2 was five seconds behind the Bulldogs' winning pace.

"We rowed our own race, and are proud of that, but are obviously disappointed with the final result — the Yale boat has gained a lot of speed so far this season," novice lightweight Jarlath Byrne Rodgers said. "Our sights are clearly set on Easterns in two weeks, and [we] know what we have to do to get faster between now and then."

In New Haven, the Bulldogs edged out the men's heavyweight crew by less than three seconds in the first varsity race. The Tigers did earn a split by finishing more than seven seconds faster than Cornell. In the first novice showdown, the Big Red won the race in 5:41.8, a heartbreaking .2 seconds ahead of the Tigers. Princeton finished third in the second varsity (5:49.4) and the third varsity (6:06.4).