Princeton University Athletics
Open Battle With NCAA Champion Highlights Full Crew Weekend
April 17, 2009 | Heavyweight Rowing, Women's Rowing - Open, Women's Rowing - Lightweight, Men's Rowing - Lightweight
The sixth-ranked Princeton open crew will face its toughest test of the season Saturday when it travels to New Haven, Conn., to take on the top-ranked and 2008 NCAA champion Yale Bulldogs for the Eisenberg Cup. That is one of four rowing showdowns this weekend, which includes only one home regatta (men's heavyweight).
OPEN WOMEN
Head coach Lori Dauphiny wasn't exactly sure what she had at the beginning of the 2009 racing season. A strong start, in which the team has won six of its first seven races, including one over reigning Ivy League champion Brown, has given Dauphiny some answers. Undoubtedly, she'll get more this weekend. Princeton, which has moved to No. 6 in the latest national rankings, will take on the top-ranked Yale Bulldogs at 8:45 a.m. on the Housatonic River. It will be a big morning for the host Yale squad, which also is celebrating the 35th anniversary of women's crew and honoring the 1979 national champion varsity eight.
Princeton fell to Yale by 2.4 seconds last season and ended up out of the top three in the Ivy League standings by the time the EAWRC championships were finished. A close race with the Bulldogs Saturday could establish the Tigers as one of the true contenders for the Ivy championship when the Eastern and Ivy League title is decided May 17 at Cooper River in Camden, N.J.
LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN
The second-ranked Princeton lightweight women probably can't get to the No. 1 national ranking during the regular season, since Wisconsin does not face a Top-5 squad the rest of the season. The Tigers can establish themselves as the top contender for the Badgers' Eastern and IRA national title by knocking off the next three teams in the rankings over the next two weeks; that process will begin Saturday morning when they take on No. 3 Stanford and No. 5 Georgetown on the Potomac River. The Class of 2006 Cup will be up for grabs between Princeton and Georgetown.
Princeton is 4-1 this season, including a win over Stanford at the season-opening Pac-Ten Challenge in Redwood Shores, California. The Tigers defeated the Hoyas twice last season, including by 10.3 seconds in the Class of 2006 Cup regatta last April; however, Georgetown bounced back with a defeat of Princeton in the IRA grand final. The Hoyas finished as silver medalists to Wisconsin in that race, while Princeton fell short of the medal stand. Head coach Paul Rassam is determined to get Princeton back into the national elite with a new training system, which he hopes will have the Tigers peaking for the postseason. While he feels good about the overall process, he has also been pleased with the way Princeton has performed in weekend racing, and he is hopeful the team can top two major rivals this weekend.
LIGHTWEIGHT MEN
The No. 1 Princeton men's lightweight crew will try to retain the Wood-Hammond Trophy this weekend when it travels to the nearby Schuylkill River to take on the Penn Quakers Saturday morning. Princeton has won 10 straight regular-season races, including last weekend's Platt Cup regatta against three-time national champion Cornell. The first varsity victory earned the Tiger lightweights the Princeton Athlete of the Week honors, sponsored by Princeton Army ROTC.
Princeton defeated Penn by more than 21 seconds last season, but the home Quakers should provide a tougher test this season. Penn fell by less than five seconds last weekend to No. 2 Yale, which Princeton will race against next weekend. Head coach Greg Hughes will also look for his other boats to get back on the winning track after falling to the 2V, 3V and 1F boats at Cornell.
HEAVYWEIGHT MEN
Saturday's only regatta at Lake Carnegie will feature the heavyweight men, who will try to shake off a disappointing loss in the Childs Cup when they take on Harvard and MIT for the Compton Cup. Princeton nearly upset Harvard on the Charles River last season, but the home squad won by .5 of a second. Princeton rallied to defeat the Crimson in both postseason races; its third-place finish at the Eastern Sprints landed All-Ivy honors for the members of the 2008 first varsity.
Harvard has come back strong this season and is ranked fourth nationally, which is two spots higher than any other Ivy League program. The next Ivy League team in the national polls is Columbia, which jumped from 10th to sixth when it knocked off Princeton last weekend for the Childs Cup. The Tigers fell from eighth to 11th, but a victory this weekend would assuredly move them back into the national Top 10. Racing will begin this weekend at 9 a.m., with the first varsity showdown scheduled for 10 a.m.
Once again, fans can listen online to Princeton's home races live; to do so, go to www.princetoncrew.com and click on the "Listen Live" button under the racing calendar.