Princeton University Athletics
"Special Class" Propels Preseason No. 1 Princeton Open Crew
March 24, 2006 | Women's Rowing - Open
March 24, 2006
PRINCETON - Princeton open crew coach Lori Dauphiny calls it a "special class." She probably didn't need to use any adjectives to describe it, though. She could just point to the record book. There is still an open page in that record book, and Dauphiny believes this team could fill that page up in 2006.
When they first left the world of novice racing, four members of the current senior class became part of the historic 2004 squad that won the Eastern Sprint title. Six rowers on the current first varsity boat were there last year, when Princeton completed an undefeated regular season.
That special class has one season left, but it has a number of major goals still left to accomplish. And those seniors know they won't have to travel very far to go after them.
"It's definitely an unusual situation," head coach Lori Dauphiny said. "Sometimes the schedule works out this way, but we've never had NCAAs so close to us (Mercer Lake in West Windsor). The jury is still out whether it will be good or bad for us."
Princeton will compete in two states this year, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Tigers will cross state lines one time to compete on the Schuylkill River against Penn and Dartmouth on April 22. The remainder of the regular season will be at home, and the Eastern Sprints (May 14) will be held on Cooper River in Camden.
No frequent flyer miles this year. But there could be plenty of wins. Princeton enters the 2006 schedule ranked No. 1 in the preseason U.S. Rowing national poll. While Dauphiny fully believes in her squad and its potential for greatness this season, she doesn't put much stock into a preseason poll.
"I think it's mostly for entertainment purposes," she said. "A lot of it is based on the fall, and we race a different length during the fall. We had good results in the fall, and I'm very pleased about that, but Cal won the title last year and I think they should be No. 1 again. Nobody has beaten them yet." If all goes well, Dauphiny hopes her squad gets that chance, and the Tigers put in the kind of work during the fall and winter to position them for a dramatic run. Led by a hungry senior class, which is embodied by captain Devan Darby, Princeton has dedicated itself to finishing its season stronger than it started it.
"If we learned anything from Sprints last year, it's that there are no guarantees," Dauphiny said. "You have to train with the same or more intensity throughout the season because you can't rest on past results. I think this senior class has a sense of urgency, but overall we have a very competitive team. Everybody wants to do well."
The competitive drive can certainly be found in Darby, who walked on to the squad as a freshman and earned a seat in the first novice boat. She sits in the fifth seat today and is surrounded by some of the premier rowers in the country, including classmate Caroline Lind, the stroke of the U.S. Women's Eight, and Andreanne Morin, a Canadian Olympian who took last year off.
The talent is there, but beginning today, that talent will be tested by the finest squads in the country. No guarantees out there, but that talent knows the top prizes in the sport are not too far away -- both literally and figuratively.