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Princeton Heavyweights Aiming For Sixth Eastern Championship Sunday
May 14, 2008 | Heavyweight Rowing
The Princeton men's heavyweight crew will look for its second Ivy League and Eastern Sprints title in three seasons this Sunday when it heads to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., for the 2008 EARC championships.
Led by head coach Curtis Jordan, Princeton enters the 2008 championships seeded fourth overall and third among Ivy League teams. Brown enters as the top seed after topping Princeton for the Content Cup two weeks ago. Wisconsin, which hasn't raced any Ivy League school except Dartmouth, is seeded second. Harvard, which split a pair of competitions with Princeton this season, is seeded third.
The next three schools seeded behind Princeton are, in order, Northeastern, Columbia and Syracuse. With the rowing regular season having ended May 3, each team is fully rested and ready for the challenging one-day competition.
“It always makes it interesting when you have the two weeks,” Jordan said. “Most season, it is a week-to-week thing, so you have to recover from the last race and be ready to go again. This is a passionate regatta. It's two races in one day, so you have to be on from the start. You have to be tuned in immediately, or you could get beat in that first race.”
There are three semifinal heats in the first varsity division. Princeton will race in the third heat, scheduled to start at noon, with Harvard, Cornell, Yale, Penn and Rutgers. The top two teams will advance to the grand final (6 p.m.), while the third- and fourth-place teams will go to the petite final and the final two teams will race in the third-level final.
Princeton defeated Yale and Cornell during the Carnegie Cup showdown at Carnegie Lake on April 26. The Tigers beat Cornell by 3.3 seconds and Yale by five seconds, which means Princeton can't afford a slow first race if it plans to compete for its sixth Eastern championship in program history.
“Every year, even with our championship boat in 2006, we are in a difficult heat,” Jordan said. “You have to be prepared. We have been preparing for a championship, and if we perform well, I think we'll have a good chance.”
Brown is unbeaten (6-0), including wins over Harvard and Princeton, while Wisconsin is bolstered by impressive wins at the Stanford Invitational. Princeton turned heads early in the season with a second-place showing in the Copley Cup final at the San Diego Crew Classic. Though beaten by top-ranked Washington, the Tigers earned wins over Harvard, California, Northeastern and Yale in that grand final.
“This is a well-prepared group for this weekend,” Jordan said. “We had five sophomores in that boat in San Diego. I'm sure going out there helped acclimate them to what they'll see this weekend.”
While senior captain Glenn Ochal is the leader of the varsity eight, the talented class of sophomores has played a major role this season. As freshmen, this group finished third in the 2007 Eastern 1F grand final. The current crop of freshmen is looking for an even loftier finish; the current Princeton 1F enters this weekend seeded second and has lost only once this season, to top-seeded Harvard.
“That's going to be an exciting race,” Jordan said. “It's a great group of freshmen. There is a character about them. There are good guys that could grow into superstars in their careers, but together they have put together a really strong crew.”
With exceptional talent in the Classes of 2010 and 2011, the future is bright for the Princeton crew. Jordan believes the present is also bright, and he's looking forward to sending a prepared squad to compete for the Worcester Bowl, given to the EARC 1V champion, and the Ivy League title.
Led by head coach Curtis Jordan, Princeton enters the 2008 championships seeded fourth overall and third among Ivy League teams. Brown enters as the top seed after topping Princeton for the Content Cup two weeks ago. Wisconsin, which hasn't raced any Ivy League school except Dartmouth, is seeded second. Harvard, which split a pair of competitions with Princeton this season, is seeded third.
The next three schools seeded behind Princeton are, in order, Northeastern, Columbia and Syracuse. With the rowing regular season having ended May 3, each team is fully rested and ready for the challenging one-day competition.
“It always makes it interesting when you have the two weeks,” Jordan said. “Most season, it is a week-to-week thing, so you have to recover from the last race and be ready to go again. This is a passionate regatta. It's two races in one day, so you have to be on from the start. You have to be tuned in immediately, or you could get beat in that first race.”
There are three semifinal heats in the first varsity division. Princeton will race in the third heat, scheduled to start at noon, with Harvard, Cornell, Yale, Penn and Rutgers. The top two teams will advance to the grand final (6 p.m.), while the third- and fourth-place teams will go to the petite final and the final two teams will race in the third-level final.
Princeton defeated Yale and Cornell during the Carnegie Cup showdown at Carnegie Lake on April 26. The Tigers beat Cornell by 3.3 seconds and Yale by five seconds, which means Princeton can't afford a slow first race if it plans to compete for its sixth Eastern championship in program history.
“Every year, even with our championship boat in 2006, we are in a difficult heat,” Jordan said. “You have to be prepared. We have been preparing for a championship, and if we perform well, I think we'll have a good chance.”
Brown is unbeaten (6-0), including wins over Harvard and Princeton, while Wisconsin is bolstered by impressive wins at the Stanford Invitational. Princeton turned heads early in the season with a second-place showing in the Copley Cup final at the San Diego Crew Classic. Though beaten by top-ranked Washington, the Tigers earned wins over Harvard, California, Northeastern and Yale in that grand final.
“This is a well-prepared group for this weekend,” Jordan said. “We had five sophomores in that boat in San Diego. I'm sure going out there helped acclimate them to what they'll see this weekend.”
While senior captain Glenn Ochal is the leader of the varsity eight, the talented class of sophomores has played a major role this season. As freshmen, this group finished third in the 2007 Eastern 1F grand final. The current crop of freshmen is looking for an even loftier finish; the current Princeton 1F enters this weekend seeded second and has lost only once this season, to top-seeded Harvard.
“That's going to be an exciting race,” Jordan said. “It's a great group of freshmen. There is a character about them. There are good guys that could grow into superstars in their careers, but together they have put together a really strong crew.”
With exceptional talent in the Classes of 2010 and 2011, the future is bright for the Princeton crew. Jordan believes the present is also bright, and he's looking forward to sending a prepared squad to compete for the Worcester Bowl, given to the EARC 1V champion, and the Ivy League title.
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