Princeton University
EARC Championships
Heavyweight Crew Falls In Dramatic Finale To No. 1 Harvard At Eastern Sprints
May 15, 2005 | Heavyweight Rowing
May 15, 2005
The highly anticipated first meeting of 2005 between Princeton and Harvard in heavyweight crew turned out to be anticlimactic. The second more than made up for it, and it certainly set up a dramatic third date between both squads in a likely showdown for the national championship.
Despite losing in the first varsity final, the second-place finish earned Princeton the Rowe Cup, which goes to the overall points winner. The top-ranked Crimson held the Rowe Cup for two years, but Princeton pulled it away by outscoring Harvard by two points.
When they raced on Lake Carnegie, Princeton entered as the top seed but fell by a significant margin to the fourth-ranked Harvard. In Sunday's grand final, which matched No. 1 Harvard and No. 4 Princeton, the outcome was much, much tighter. The Crimson set a course record and won the event in 5:29.521. Princeton was slightly more than a second behind, finishing in 5:30.661. No other crew was within five seconds of the two leaders, and no other Ivy League boat was within ten seconds.
Those two boats will likely race again in the grand final of the IRA national championships, although some of the top crews from the Midwest and West are also top contenders for the national title.
Princeton had strong efforts from a number of its crews. The second varsity boat placed second in 5:43.290, falling only to the Cornell Big Red. The top freshman boat also placed second, coming in at 05:42.755. That time was less than a second behind first-place Brown and less than a second ahead of third-place Harvard, which should indicate some very competitive races for years to come.
The third varsity was Princeton's fourth boat to reach a grand final, and it placed sixth with a time slightly over six minutes.
Princeton will conclude its 2005 season at the IRA national championships during the first week of June.
First Varsity, 2nd, Grand Final
Place Entry Lane Time 1 Harvard 2 05:29.521 2 Princeton 3 05:30.661 3 Northeastern 1 05:35.752 4 Boston U. 4 05:40.755 5 Brown 6 05:41.272 6 Yale 5 05:46.149Second Varsity, 2nd, Grand Final
Place Entry Lane Time 1 Cornell 1 05:41.622 2 Princeton 5 05:43.290 3 Yale 0 05:44.028 4 Northeastern 4 05:45.971 5 Harvard 2 05:46.201 6 Wisconsin 6 05:46.221Third Varsity, 6th, Grand Final
Place Entry Lane Time 1 Yale 1 05:46.426 2 Harvard 2 05:49.169 3 Wisconsin 3 05:53.899 4 Navy 5 05:55.480 5 Cornell 4 05:57.042 6 Princeton 6 06:00.184First Novice, 2nd, Grand Final
Place Entry Lane Time 1 Brown 3 05:41.782 2 Princeton 4 05:42.755 3 Harvard 1 05:43.303 4 Pennsylvania 2 05:45.368 5 Boston U. 5 05:45.694 6 Northeastern 6 05:46.574