Princeton University Athletics
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Women's Lightweights Ready To Challenge Again For Eastern, National Titles
March 25, 2010 | Women's Rowing - Lightweight
With a strong influx of freshmen, Princeton women's lightweight crew head coach Paul Rassam feels confident about the possibilities of the 2010 season, which begins Saturday on Lake Carnegie against MIT.
"We're in a pretty good spot," Rassam said. "We're further ahead than we were at this point last year. Since we had such a young team last year, I think we've seen the next step, the progression, so far during winter training and early spring training."
Princeton experienced some highs and lows in 2009, ranging from an impressive silver-medal performance at the EAWRC Championships to a disappointing sixth-place finish at the IRA championships. But a strong fall season, including good showings at both The Head of the Charles and The Princeton Chase, has left the upperclassmen optimistic about the possibilities ahead.
"I think we're already right in the middle of that [championship] mix," senior co-captain Justine Hausheer said. "Despite the fact that our IRA results haven't been in the top three the last two years, if you look at the results in the season, we've been beating a lot of these crews that are out there. So I firmly believe that we are within that mix."
Both Hausheer and fell co-captain Lauren Sykora have been impressed by both the talent and work ethic of a strong freshman class, which could find multiple members in the varsity boat by the time the postseason rolls around.
"The work ethic has been tremendous throughout the team," Rassam said, "but some of our youngest athletes have put up our biggest erg scores. They're some of our hardest workers. So it hasn't been a year of big adjustment for them."
While the season opens with MIT this Saturday, Princeton will see several of its traditional rivals during a challenging April schedule. Princeton will see both Stanford and reigning national champion Wisconsin during a weekend regatta in Redwood Shores, Calif., on April 10, and will return home to face both Georgetown and Harvard over the next two weeks.
May 16 and June 5 will be key dates this season, as Princeton expects to compete for both the Eastern and national titles on both of those days at Cooper River. A strong finish is the end goal for this team, and with potential contributions from so many younger rowers, Rassam believes this team will get better each week.