Princeton University Athletics
Top-Ranked Women's Boats Eye Eastern Supremacy Sunday At Sprints
May 12, 2006 | Women's Rowing - Open
May 12, 2006
PRINCETON - Both the Princeton open women and lightweight women will enter this weekend's Eastern Sprints (Sunday, Cooper River, Camden, N.J.) as the favorites to wear the gold. Of course, both teams are also plenty aware that anything can happen in one race, as history has shown.
The open women completed the program's first ever 14-win season this year and also ran its three-year win streak to 36 straight dual races. Nobody beat them in 2005, until the grand final of Eastern Sprints. On that day, in that race, Yale finished first and won the Eastern and Ivy League crown (the Ivy League title goes to the highest finisher in the Eastern grand final).
"This team is more mature than last year because of that experience," head coach Lori Dauphiny said. "We're cautious and taking nothing for granted. Eastern Sprints is an opportunity for everybody to show speed."
Nobody has shown more speed than Princeton this season, which has gone wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the country. The varsity eight will race first at 9:10 in the first heat, and as long as it finishes in the top two, will race for the Eastern title at 5 p.m. The other boats in Princeton's first heat are Rutgers, Northeastern, Radcliffe and Cornell. Radcliffe, ranked 18th, is the only other team in the national Top 20.
Princeton has won eight sprints titles (varsity eight), including its most recent one in 2004.
Princeton's primary challengers will likely be Brown and Yale, ranked fifth and seventh nationally, respectively. Both will compete in other heats, and both have already lost to Princeton this season. Brown fell to Princeton in the season opener and has grown increasingly faster as the season has progressed.
"There are things we can't control," Dauphiny said, "so we'll try to be prepared for anything. Brown and Yale will be especially fierce competitors."
That will be the final race of the day, and hopefully the final of several golden performances from the Orange and Black. Princeton will send six boats on Sunday, including a second varsity eight, a novice eight, a pair of varsity fours and a novice four. Each boat will be important as Princeton seeks out the Charles Willing Jr. Team Trophy, which goes to the team with the best overall results in varsity and novice racing. "We have a strong team overall," Dauphiny said. "We're going in fully loaded, but we know other teams will too."
According to the final EAWRC Coaches Poll, Princeton has the top-ranked varsity eight, novice eight and varsity four. The second varsity boat is ranked third behind Brown and Yale.
Paul Rassam's lightweight women will also be sending multiple boats to Sprints on Sunday, but the showdown that most fans will anticipate will come at 1:25, when the top four teams in the country race for the Eastern crown. No. 1 Princeton, No. 2 Radcliffe, No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 4 Georgetown are plenty familiar with each other, and Rassam knows it could be a dogfight to the end.
"It will be a competitive finish," Rassam said. "Georgetown has been a little inconsistent, but if they are on, it will be a four-team race. It will definitely be at least a three-team showdown at the end, and Georgetown could be right there as well. It should be exciting."
Princeton has raced all four teams this season. The Tigers defeated Georgetown twice, including once on Lake Carnegie, and they defeated defending IRA champion Wisconsin during the Knecht Cup. That showdown, held on the same Cooper River as Sunday's Sprints, was a battle for second place, as Radcliffe hit the line first for the win.
That was Radcliffe's second win over Princeton during the season, but the Tigers claimed a big boost in momentum by topping Radclffe at home two weeks ago.
"There's no doubt that was a confidence booster for us," Rassam said. "Our senior coxswain, Nicole Larrea, showed great leadership that day and called a great race. And the youth of our boat has grown up throughout the season and become savvy racers. We row more composed now, especially when things get tight."
Princeton has won five Eastern titles, but none since 2003. The Tigers finished second to Wisconsin last year.
Joining the varsity eight will be a pair of varsity fours and a novice eight, both of which completed very strong regular seasons and will be the teams to beat on Sunday.
"I expect those boats to continue to do well," Rassam said. "There are good teams out there, but if we race well, we should be in good position."
2006 Eastern Sprints Schedule
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