Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Opens NCAA Championships With Fastest Heat, Open-Water Win
May 26, 2006 | Women's Rowing - Open
May 26, 2006
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. - A brilliant first heat by the Princeton open women first varsity got the NCAA championships off on the right foot for the local favorites. The top-ranked Tigers, who placed second in the NCAA final last year, advanced to Saturday's semifinal with a winning time of 6:32.224, more than four seconds faster than any other crew. The first varsity will join the second varsity and the fours on Mercer Lake Saturday, as each looks for a spot in the grand finals.
While the top time among the three heats is nice for stories, it won't translate into any advantage for the rest of the weekend. The key in each of Friday morning's three heats was to finish in the top three, thus guaranteeing a spot in Saturday's semifinals. Once each boat decided a top-three spot was clinched, it could ease up going into the finish.
Regardless of the actual time, there was no denying the Princeton dominance in the second heat. Coming in the third lane against Michigan State, Minnesota, Notre Dame and Wisconsin, the Tigers built a significant edge within the first 15 strokes and continued to surge forward. The race announcer counted the Tiger advantage, calling it from a four-seat lead to an eight-seat and then open-water lead within the span of a few seconds.
As the race went on, the drama was left for the other four teams to compete for two spots. Michigan State and Minnesota earned them, but neither finished within five seconds of Princeton.
"It's a good start for us," head coach Lori Dauphiny said. "There isn't much crossover between us and the central or western teams, so we didn't know how it would go. We got a familiarity with the course, but tomorrow will be key as we try to get into the Sunday final."
Princeton will race in one of two semifinals Saturday morning (10:30 and 10:45). The top three boats in each race will qualify for the NCAA championship race Sunday at noon. "It was nice to get this first race out of the way," senior stroke Caroline Lind said. "I'm nervous before every race. If you don't feel it, something's wrong."
Brown and Yale were the other two Ivy League schools to qualify for the Saturday semifinals.
The second varsity and varsity fours have different setups than the varsity eights. A team could move directly to the grand final with a win in Friday's heats, but most teams simply determined their lanes for Saturday's semifinals. For Princeton, which has integrated a strong freshman class into both boats, an extra race Saturday could prove beneficial to help build continuity heading into Sunday.
Of course, both will need to finish in the top two in their semifinals to qualify for the grand final. The second varsity finished in 6:56.439 in its heat and will race at 10:15 Saturday morning from lane two. The Tigers will need to finish in the top two among Tennessee, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Michigan State to make the grand final. Wisconsin and Michigan State both had faster times, but those were in a different heat.
The varsity four finished fourth in its heat and will also need a top-two finish tomorrow. The Tigers came in at 7:33.783, more than eight seconds behind California's winning time. The varsity four semifinal time will be at 9:30, and Princeton will race against Ohio State, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Michigan State.
Strong finishes by the second varsity and varsity four will help determine the overall team title, which is a recognized NCAA championship.