Princeton University
EAWRC Sprints
Open Women Upset Brown To Reach Medal Stand At EAWRC Championships
May 17, 2009 | Women's Rowing - Open
With one race left to avoid a complete varsity shutout and the reigning Eastern champion left as the final obstacle, the pressure was on the Princeton open crew first varsity boat. The Tigers overcame chilly temperatures and the top-seeded Brown 1V to earn a bronze medal at the 2009 EAWRC championships, held Sunday on Cooper River in Camden, N.J.
Princeton, which entered the Eastern and Ivy League championship meet as the overall third seed, reached the finals by upending Harvard in the third semifinal heat. With top-seeded and 2008 champion Brown and second-seeded and 2008 NCAA champion Yale viewed as the favorites, the bronze medal appeared to be another battle between Princeton and Harvard.
But with 2000 meters between them and the medal stand, the grand finalists didn't race as completely expected. Yale, which spent much of the year ranked first nationally and was the only Ivy program to defeat Princeton during the regular season, won the title in 6:21.95. The battle between Harvard and Princeton went the Crimson's way; Harvard won the silver by less than one second in a time of 6:22.86.
Unexpectedly, that left Princeton and Brown to vie for the final spot on the medal stand. The Tigers would not be denied; they finished in 6:23.53 and were actually closer to first place than to fourth place, as the Bears finished in 6:26.94.
The medal was a big relief for head coach Lori Dauphiny, who watched her varsity eight miss the medal stand in 2008 and saw her remaining varsity crews earn a series of fourth-place finishes during the rest of the afternoon.
The second varsity eight finished in 6:46.96, but found itself looking up at Brown, Yale and Harvard on the medal stand. Brown won the grand final in 6:34.21, while Yale finished second in 6:39.74. In the battle for bronze, Harvard got the job done in 6:42.45. The Crimson win came after Princeton won a showdown between the two boats by four seconds in the third semifinal heat.
The varsity four crew, which reached the grand final with a second-place effort in its third heat, missed out on the medal stand by nearly six seconds. Yale won gold in a time of 7:27.33, while Brown barely held off Harvard in a time of 7:31.32. The Crimson, which finished in 7:31.66, comfortably took bronze over a Princeton foursome that finished in 7:37.56. The Tigers did top Dartmouth (7:40.72), avenging a second-place finish to the Big Green in the third semifinal heat.
The varsity four B had a similar fate in its grand final, although the margin away from the medal stand was wider. Yale won in 7:26.61, a comfortable 8+ seconds ahead of Harvard's silver time of 7:35.22. Brown placed third in 7:42.51, while Princeton took fourth in 7:53.31. The varsity four C also finished fourth, well behind the crews of Brown, Yale and Harvard, in 9:03.49.
One foursome that did find the medal stand was the novice four. While the Tigers were edged for gold by Georgetown (7:54.93), Princeton defeated four other Ivy League rivals for silver with a time of 7:59.07. Cornell was the next best finisher, taking third in 8:08.76.
Princeton will get another chance at these eastern powers, as well as a number of loaded programs in both the midwest and west, when the premier women's open crews descend on Cooper River in two weeks for the 2009 NCAA championships. The last time the NCAA meet was held in New Jersey was a memorable one for Princeton; the 2006 Princeton first varsity, arguably one of the greatest boats in NCAA history, cleared the field to win the gold medal and complete an undefeated season atop Lake Mercer in West Windsor.