Princeton University Athletics
Men's, Women's Lightweights Top College Competition At Head Of The Charles
October 22, 2007 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
Two years ago, both the Princeton heavyweight men and open women had dominant performances at the Head of the Charles, and both went on to win Eastern championships the following spring. Both Princeton lightweight programs hope that is a sign of success to come this season, as the Princeton men's and women's lightweight crews both topped the collegiate fields at Sunday's Head of the Charles, the start of the fall racing season.
The men's lightweights finished fourth overall, behind the New York Athletic Club, the Hollandia Boat Club and Rowing Canada, with an adjusted official time of 14:45.430. The next two crews to finish will likely be two more major competitors for the 2008 Eastern and IRA crowns; Navy placed fifth overall in 14:49.209, while Cornell took sixth in 14:58.993.
All the more impressive for Princeton is the fact that a second Tiger 8+ finished ninth overall in a time of 15:09.142. No team had two boats in the Top 10, and only one other college program had two boats in the Top 20 (Yale, 8th and 16th).
"It was a solid first race for our squad," head coach Greg Hughes said. "Once again it looks like the lightweight league will be tight. It is rewarding to see that our hard training this fall has us on track to be competitive with others in the league. The Charles squad was young and included seven sophomores, six juniors and only three seniors. There is still more for us to learn. We will keep up the hard work and see where it takes us at the Chase this weekend."
The women's lightweights defeated annual rivals Wisconsin and Radcliffe, along with rising program Stanford, with an adjusted final time of 17:18.602. That time put Princeton second in the overall competition, with only the London Training Center (the Canadian national team) ahead of it. Wisconsin finished third overall, while Stanford and Harvard finished fifth and seventh, respectively.
"Our eight handled the pressure of starting in front of Riverside well," head coach Paul Rassam said. "These athletes are hungry for success and this result was a nice starting point. To be honest, I didn't think our team was fit enough at the beginning of the fall to pull out a collegiate win at the Charles, so this result was pleasantly surprising."
The women's lightweight four finished 10th in its competition with a time of 19:47.031.
The men's heavyweights had a strong showing, finishing fourth overall and third among colleges with a time of 14:32.153. The U.S. Rowing crew won the competition, while Wisconsin and Brown took second and third. The open women split their squad into two boats and placed 23rd (17:24.179) and 24th (17:24.472), respectively.
Princeton will race on Lake Carnegie this Sunday during the annual Princeton Chase.