Princeton University
NCAA Championships
Open Crew Ends Season In NCAA Grand Final; 4s Barely Miss Medal Stand
May 27, 2007 | Women's Rowing - Open
One year after the dream NCAA Championship of 2006, the Princeton open crew found a way to get itself back into the biggest race of the collegiate season. Ranked ninth entering the weekend championships, Princeton leapfrogged three other teams to reach the grand final of the varsity eights. The Tigers had two boats in the grand finals, including the fourth-place varsity fours
The Tigers needed to place third in Friday's repechage just to reach the Saturday first varsity semifinals, and they held off Washington by less than three seconds for that final spot. They followed it up with their race of the season; needing a top-three spot in the semifinals to reach the grand final, Princeton ended in a sprint to the finish with Ivy rival Harvard for that third spot. The Tigers, who shot out of the gates and were second after 500 meters, led the hard-charging Crimson by approximately 1.5 seconds with only 500 meters remaing. Harvard moved past Dartmouth in the final quarter of the race, but the gritty Tigers held on. Their time of 6:27.25 was less than half of a second faster than Harvard, but it punched their ticket to the final.
Princeton, which moved a handful of freshman into its varsity boats, including the 1V, gained good experience by competing in the NCAA championship final, but it wasn't ready to compete with the best of 2007. Yale won the grand final, topping Ohio State by more than one second, while Princeton placed sixth in 6:45.38.
The varsity fours topped USC by nearly two seconds in the Saturday repechage, which also moved Princeton into a grand final. Its final time of 7:50.90 put Princeton in fourth place, just off the medal stand. The second varsity placed fifth in the petite final, finishing in 7:11.15.