Crew: Around the boathouse

The men’s heavyweight crew will hope to gain ground in the Ivy League this season. The Tigers found themselves on the outside looking in last year when Harvard and Brown fought tooth and nail in the final race of EARC Sprints — which Brown won by an incredibly small margin — but did manage to get all of its boats into the Grand Finals.

The women’s open crew finished fourth in the nation last season and had the highest point total in the Ivy League championship, although Radcliffe — the women’s crews at Harvard still carry the name of the former women’s college — won the varsity eight, beating third-place Princeton by five seconds. Brown and Michigan are expected to be top challengers to a team that, so far, appears to have improved from last season.

“We’re really excited actually, because our times are looking faster than last year,” sophomore Emily Burr said. “We have a really fast freshman class coming in.”

Three of those freshmen are Megan Wheeler, Louisa Willis and Erin Reelick, sister of junior rower Kelsey Reelick.

The team will be thankful for the return of several key rowers, especially senior Heidi Robbins. Robbins, a walk-on who has surpassed all expectations and now leads the first varsity boat, helped the Tigers to a third-place finish at Ivy League Sprints last year and will need to maintain her stellar performance to give them a shot at the 2013 championship.

The lightweight teams may see significant improvement this season. Both teams are excited about their incoming freshman class, especially after a recent rule change made it possible for freshmen to row in any boat. Previously, they had only been allowed to row with and against other freshmen.

Onlookers got a glimpse of how the season may unfold in October, when all four Princeton teams competed at the Head of the Charles Regatta on the Charles River in Boston. Conditions were not ideal, but the Tigers came away feeling optimistic about the spring.

The open women’s eight came in second among collegiate teams, blowing past everyone except NCAA champion UVA. The second varsity boat finished fourth among Ivy boats, beating out the No. 1 boats of several league opponents.

The heavyweight men’s first varsity boat also had a strong showing, taking fourth among collegiate boats. They lost to Harvard but beat out Brown, last year’s Ivy champion.

The lightweight men found success as well, coming in third overall to Harvard, the reigning national champions rowing on their home course, and USRowing, a team stroked by two Princeton alumni. The lightweight second varsity crew also placed in the top 10, making it the top-finishing 2V boat in the race. The women’s lightweight eight placed fourth overall, although the rowers said they felt they had a flat race.