Princeton University Athletics
Lightweight Crew Captures Ivy Title At Eastern Sprints
May 11, 2003 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
May 11, 2003
Worcester, Mass. - The Princeton men's lightweight crew team captured an Ivy League title by winning at the Eastern Sprints in Worcester, Mass. on Sunday. The Tigers raced from the sixth lane and won the race by a boat length.
Princeton, which came into the weekend ranked fifth in the nation, won the race in 6:28.49. No. 1 Columbia placed second in 6:32.54, followed by No. 4 Yale (6:32.86), No. 2 Harvard (6:33.13) and No. 3 Georgetown (6:44.23). Princeton claims the Joseph Wright Trophy for the championship, its first since 1999 and its 13th overall.
"I felt like we need to get out early because I knew there were six fast boats in the final." says Princeton coach Joe Murtaugh. "The guys raced with a lot of heart and passion. When they get a lead, it's hard to take it away from them. The races where we haven't faired well in, we didn't have a good first 1,000 meters. We had a good first 1,000 meters today."
While the varsity eight boat clinched the Ivy League championship. it wasn't the only boat to race successfully. The second varsity eight placed first in 6:35.05, edging out Yale by less than half of a second in the grand final. The men's freshman eight placed second in a time of 6:35.27 seconds, falling by less than four seconds to Navy (6:31.86). The third varsity boat placed fourth in 6:55.41.
All boat times can be found at www.row2k.com.
For all your Ivy League Championship apparel, visit IvySports.com.