Princeton University Athletics
Men's Heavyweight Crew Takes Third In Grande Final
June 03, 2000 | Heavyweight Rowing
June 3, 2000
CAMDEN, N.J. - Princeton's streak of consecutive years with at least one national champion reached 14 as the women's lightweight crew successful defended its title and took home gold medals with a first place finish in the grand final at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships Saturday afternoon on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J. The men's lightweight varsity eight were edged by Yale at the tape for a second place finish, while the men's heavyweight varsity eight finished third behind defending national champion California and Eastern Sprints champion Brown.
In heavyweight competition, the only two undefeated teams, California and Brown, battled for an early lead with the Tigers holding on in third. After 1000 meters it was evident the fight was for second place. Around the 700-meter mark, California, which held a three-seat lead on Brown, made a move to extend its lead to eight seats at the mid-way point and a full boat length with a quarter of the race remaining. Brown was alone in second with Princeton and Wisconsin practically even in third. With 500 meter to go, Cal moved out to a length lead, and Princeton began challenging the Bears for second place. The Tigers moved away from Wisconsin, but could not get through Brown, falling short by 0.37 seconds. The Golden Bears were once again crowned champion with a winning time of 5:39.58, while the Brown Bears took second (5:44.5), and Princeton took third (5:44.87). In the closest and probably the most exciting race of the day, six tenths of a second separated the top three crews in the men's lightweight grand final. Princeton, which won its morning heat to advance to the final, were in second or third place for the first half of the race, never more than a few seats from Yale and Columbia. Last year's national champion, Harvard established a four-seat advantage at the 500-meter mark, with Princeton, Columbia and Yale battling for second.
With 750 meters gone, the Tigers moved into second place, and Harvard extended its lead to nearly a length with 500 meters to go. The Crimson seemed to run out of gas in the final 200, setting up a photo finish for the other three crews. With Princeton and Yale practically even with five strokes to go and Columbia less than a seat behind, the Bulldogs picked up half a stoke on Princeton and won by mere inches. The Lions took third with Harvard in fourth. Only 1.05 seconds separated the top four crews.
Princeton took second in the overall point total with 311 points, 25 points behind Wisconsin. The Tigers finished second in the second varsity eight and fifth in the freshman eight.
Women's Lightweight Varsity Eight Grand Final 1. Princeton 7:03.52 2. Villanova 7:07.49 3. Wisconsin 7:12.36 4. Brown 7:24.26 5. San Diego St. 7:27.28 6. St. Joseph's 9:50.10 These are the correct name and order of schools in grand final. The names are wrong on the IRA web site. St. Joseph's got off track twice, resulting in the two-minute difference.
Men's Lightweight Varsity Eight Grand Final 1. Yale 5:50.39 2. Princeton 5:50.54 3. Columbia 5:50.99 4. Harvard 5:51.44 5. Rutgers 5:56.06 6. Dartmouth 5:59.80
Men's Heavyweight Varsity Eight Grand Final 1. California 5:39.58 2. Brown 5:44.50 3. Princeton 5:44.87 4. Washington 5:48.47 5. Temple 5:54.15 6. Dartmouth
5:57.78
Complete IRA championship times and results can be found on: http://www.iraregatta.com