The men’s lightweight rowing team faced a significant obstacle this Saturday, racing against the incumbent IRA champion Columbia on Lake Carnegie for the inaugural Campbell Cup in the second half of a regatta with the heavyweights.
There was a turbulent start to the morning race as waves swallowed junior Blake Lange’s oar just before the 500-meter mark and forced his boat to forfeit their considerable lead against the Lions.
Luck was on their side, however, because the team was granted a restart after calling breakage.
The team was able to outpace the champions again after the restart and seal the victory with a late sprint to claim the first Campbell Cup, finishing at 6:30.2, five seconds ahead of the Columbia boat.
The victory was a historic one, as Columbia had taken 12 out of the last 13 races against Princeton.
Saturday’s race was the team’s third of the season. The Tigers split their opener exactly a week before, racing Navy for the Murtaugh Cup and Georgetown for the Fosburgh Cup. Though the Tigers kicked the day off slow with a loss to the Midshipmen for the Murtaugh, they claimed the Fosburgh title over the Hoyas with a narrow 2.5-second margin at 6:20.5 for an evening victory.
Though the lightweight rowing team took center stage on Saturday, other boats put on an impressive performance at Lake Carnegie.
The 2V finished with a 3.6-second win over Columbia; and the 3V, 4V, and 5V boats each crossed the finish line before the Columbia 3V boat, with the last Princeton boat finishing four seconds before Columbia.
The Orange and Black will look to continue their momentum from this weekend’s exciting results into next week’s races against Dartmouth and Delaware on Lake Carnegie, the third straight weekend on home waters. The competition will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday and will be broadcast live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
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