Princeton University
Harvard & MIT
Men's Heavyweights Fall In Compton Cup Thriller On Charles River
April 19, 2008 | Heavyweight Rowing
When the 2006 Princeton men's heavyweights topped Harvard for the Compton Cup on the Charles River, it did something no Tiger squad had done since 1957. The current team was less than half a second away from making it two straight successful trips to Cambridge, but a tough Harvard squad held off Princeton for the victory in a matchup of Top-5 teams.
No. 3 Princeton, coming off a 3-0 start and an impressive second-place finish at the Copley Cup final in San Diego, finished the first varsity race in 5:40.6, just .5 of a second behind No. 5 Harvard, which retained the cup in 5:40.1. It would be the closest race in a Crimson sweep, as Harvard also earned wins in the second varsity, third varsity and first freshman competitions.
Princeton defeated Harvard in the Copley Cup final at the 2008 San Diego Crew Classic, although the Crimson went 3-0 against Princeton last year, including wins in the Eastern and IRA grand finals. The next meeting between these two grand programs will come at the 2008 Eastern championships on May 18 in Worcester, Mass.
Princeton did defeat MIT in the first varsity race to move its record to 4-1 on the season. The Tigers own Ivy League wins over Penn and Columbia and will face Yale and Cornell next weekend at Lake Carnegie. Racing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
First Varsity: Harvard 5:40.1; Princeton 5:40.6; MIT 6:04.0
Second Varsity: Harvard 5:51.7; Princeton 5:59.1
Third Varsity: Harvard 6:11.2; Princeton 6:21.0
First Freshman: Harvard 5:55.8; Princeton 6:01.3; MIT 6:31.3