Princeton University Athletics
Heavyweight Battle For Heavyweights Highlight Full Crew Weekend
April 15, 2005 | Heavyweight Rowing
April 15, 2005
PRINCETON - The Compton Cup brings together the heavyweight crews from Princeton and Harvard, along with MIT. It's a rivalry that makes for intense racing by itself, but this year it's a little different. The two-time defending national champion Harvard Crimson and the current No. 1 Princeton Tigers will compete in the highlight event of a full weekend for Princeton crew.
Heavyweight
Princeton has been ranked atop the polls since the preseason, but this is clearly the Tigers' biggest test during the regular season. Princeton, which claimed the Childs Cup last weekend by topping Penn and Columbia, is 4-0 on the season. It has a very slim lead over California-Berkeley for the top spot in the national poll, but a win over the 2003 and 2004 IRA champion Harvard Crimson would likely widen that gap.
Racing will begin at 9 a.m. with the second freshman boat and continue through 10:20, when the main event takes place. Last season, Harvard topped Princeton by 1.6 seconds in the Compton Cup.
Open Women
The open women have also held the top spot in the poll throughout the season, and the Tigers will travel to New Haven for a tough competition against the No. 8 Yale Bulldogs.
Princeton has defeated its last 15 Ivy League rivals, dating back to 14.9-second win over Cornell on April 12, 2003. The Tigers swept the league in 2004 en route to the Eastern Sprint and Ivy League title, and the team looks to be targeting a similar season in 2005. Princeton is 6-0 this season following last weekend's victories over Harvard and Cornell.
Men's Lightweight
Following a season-opening loss to Navy, the men's lightweights have won consecutive races against Columbia and Georgetown to get back on track. For the first time this season, Joe Murtaugh's crew will hit the road and travel to Cayuga Inlet in Ithaca, N.Y., to compete against Cornell and Rutgers. The Tigers have had mixed results in the past two seasons against these teams; they earned a convincing sweep in 2003 before falling to both teams last season. Women's Lightweight
In more than a month, the Tigers will travel to Cooper River in Camden, N.J., with dreams of a sixth national title in seven years. This weekend will give Princeton a taste of Cooper River, as the Tigers will compete for the Knecht Cup, an annual competition for some of the top women's lightweight crews in the nation. Princeton topped Radcliffe and Wisconsin last season to claim the title.