Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Lightweights Look To Repeat As Ivy Champs; Leonard Featured
May 13, 2010 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
EARC INFORMATION (including schedule)
The Princeton men's lightweight crew entered the 2010 season finale on a 20-race win streak and as the defending EARC and Ivy League champion. The Tigers left the race with a loss and a top rival for Sunday's EARC championship.
Both Princeton and Harvard entered the May 1 Vogel & Goldthwait Cup regatta as undefeated programs and the two highest-ranked teams in the country. Princeton had the top spot going in, but it was the Crimson that won the race in .7 of a second to complete a perfect season and enter this weekend on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., as the top-ranked team.
Both will likely see each other again, but it will take some work at first. Both teams will compete in late morning heats, where the top three teams will advance to the 5:36 grand final. Harvard gets the first heat at 11:48, while Princeton will race at noon against Navy, Cornell, Dartmouth, MIT and St. Joseph's. The Tigers opened their season with a win at Navy and earned regular season victories against Cornell, MIT and St. Joseph's along the way.
Princeton took the same road last year, winning its heat before topping Harvard by more than 2.5 seconds to win the EARC and Ivy League title. While those two are considered the major favorites, men's lightweight rowing is a sport known for parity, and programs like Navy, Georgetown and Yale can't be overlooked.
Princeton is the top seed in the second varsity eight competition and will race at 10:12 in the first of two heats against Navy, Cornell, Dartmouth and Georgetown. The top three will advance to the second varsity grand final at 3:37 p.m. The third varsity will race once in a grand final (1:40) against Cornell, Yale, Harvard, Navy, Penn and Georgeotwn; the Tigers enter that race as the sixth seed.
The novice eight makes its postseason debut with a 9:12 a.m. heat against Harvard, Yale, Georgetown and Penn. The top three will advance to the 2:25 grand final.
You can listen to head coach Marty Crotty preview the weekend in the latest edition of TigerCast, and you can see a GoPrincetonTigers.TV profile on senior captain Jack Leonard below.