Princeton University
IRA National Championship Regatta
Princeton Rallies To Capture Bronze In Strong Day At IRA Championships
June 03, 2006 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
June 3, 2006
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Princeton puts its men's heavyweight, men's lightweight and women's lightweight boats in their respective IRA national grand finals Saturday. Unfortunately for the Orange and Black, none were able to cross the line first and claim the program's second national championship of the year.
Men's Heavyweights
During a day filled with tense, exciting races, the highlight showdown came between the best heavyweights crews from the East and West. Princeton had dominated its Eastern rivals, sweeping through the regular season and winning the league title. California was the dominant power out west and entered the weekend as the No. 2 team in the country.
Those two boats were joined by Brown, Harvard, Yale and Washington in the grand final, which was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. The tension was heightened when equipment issues in the Harvard boat delayed the start by 10 minutes. Once the race began, it was Brown who jumped out and was called the early leader by two seats over both Pac Ten schools.
Harvard made a move at that point to even itself with Brown, and then Princeton made its first big surge. The 2006 Ivy champs moved past all of their league rivals and Washington, and found itself even with California after 1,000 meters.
With about 800 meters remaining, the Golden Bears made the move that won control of the race. They jumped out ahead of Princeton, and while their lead fluctuated over the next 500 meters, the lead itself stayed constant. By the final stretch, it was clear that California was going to pull off the upset, and it won in a time of 5:37.7. Princeton claimed its second straight silver medal in 5:39.6, while Brown edged Harvard for third in 5:40.9.
The loss is Princeton's first of the season, but it should not diminish a brilliant season. The crew of coxswain James Egan, stroke Sam Loch, #7 Steve Coppola, #6 Will England, #5 Alex Hearne, #4 Glenn Ochal, #3 Bill Mongan, #2 Mike Gottlieb and bow Pier Deroo won the 2005 Head of the Charles and the 2006 Eastern championship. The Tigers won every race in between and dominated its Ivy peers. The future for the program looks strong following a fourth-place finish from the novie eight. Princeton's top novice boat qualified for the grand final and fell to only one Ivy rival, Penn. Washington and Cal finished first and second, respectively, and Princeton's time of 5:47.49 edged out Harvard for fourth by .03 of a second.
The men's heavyweights and lightweights combined to put several boats in IRAs. Their times can all be found here.
Men's Lightweights
Head coach Greg Hughes said the goal of the weekend was simply to make the grand final. Once it got there, anything could happen.
After missing the grand final of the 2005 Eastern and IRA championships and the 2006 Eastern final, that goal seemed like a daunting one for a young crew. Princeton achieved that goal in style, though, finishing in a dead heat with Navy to win its semifinal.
The Tigers didn't rest on their laurels, though. After a slow start to their grand final, Princeton put it in high gear over the final 1,000 meters to get into the medal hunt. By the final 500 meters, there seemed to be two races going on. One was between Cornell and Harvard for the title (Cornell won .08 of a second), and one for the bronze medal. That race went to Princeton, whose time of 5:45.07 topped Columbia's fourth-place time of 5:45.66.
The men's lightweight boat consisted of coxswain Sarah Sherman, stroke Solon Wayne-Aposhain, #7 Jordan Bice, #6 Ryan Kuhn, #5 Patrick Cotter, #4 Prentice Stabler, #3 David Cape, #2 Taylor Washburn and bow Greg McKallagat. With a significant number of those rowers returning next season, Princeton could be positioned for a memorable year in 2007.
Women's Lightweights
Head coach Paul Rassam made a couple of lineup changes prior to the IRA national championships, but they weren't enough to push Princeton on to the medal stand.
Following a fourth-place finish at Easterns, Rassam felt good about the way his squad prepared for these championships. Unfortunately, the increased speed didn't get the Tigers past champion Wisconsin, silver medalist Georgetown or bronze medalist Radcliffe. Wisconsin took control of the race from the start, and surprising Georgetown made a big move to get into second place.
Princeton had to overcome a deficit to get past Central Florida, but it did that by 1.5 seconds. The Tigers finished in 6:57.08, but that was still more than two seconds behind Radcliffe.
The Princeton team was coxswain Nicole Larrea, stroke Caitlin Corr, #7 Tessa Berkel, #6 Caroline English, #5 Sarah Elrod, #4 Julia Schwartz, #3 Jessica Sheehan, #2 Madeline Davis and bow Danielle Ponzio. With only Larrea graduating this year, Princeton should grow even stronger next season.