Princeton University
EARC Sprints
Players Mentioned
Men's Lights Repeat As Ivy/EARC Champ, Win 2010 Eastern Team Title
May 16, 2010 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
The Princeton men's lightweight crew knew it faced a strong challenge heading into Sunday's EARC Championship regatta, but it also knew it had the championship experience to rely on. The Tigers repeated as Ivy League and Eastern champion, and with the help of a golden performance by the 2V, also won the Jope Cup for the team title.
"Winning the grand final of the 1V at the Eastern Sprints is always thrilling and breath-taking as a rower and a coach," said head coach Marty Crotty, who made the most of his first EARC championship regatta as head coach of the Tiger lights. "But winning the Jope Cup is the most satisfying. I am so happy for all my guys that they can celebrate these wins as a team."
The biggest win came in the final race of the entire men's regatta. Two weeks after Harvard ended Princeton's 20-race win streak, the Tigers figured to see another strong challenge from the undefeated and top-ranked Crimson. Fifth-seeded Yale also made a strong challenge, but Princeton made sure no lead would go away in the championship race.
"We worked really hard in the last two weeks on getting more of a margin in the first 1250 meters," Crotty said. "We didn't want to leave the door open. We talked a lot about 'three more seats' to slam the door. Today, we were able to get them and slam the door."
Princeton won the varsity eight final in 5:41.15, while Harvard held off Yale by a slim margin for second. Those three crews cleared the field by more than two seconds; all times for the varsity eight final can be found here.
The Princeton second varsity, which also came in as the top seed, topped second-seeded Yale by less than two seconds in an exciting final. The Tigers won the race in 5:47.27, while the Bulldogs placed second in 5:49.04. Cornell moved past Harvard for the bronze; all times can be found here.
Princeton also picked up a medal in the freshman eight final, holding off Yale by less than half a second for the bronze. The Tigers were the fourth seed coming in, but they out-performed that seed by moving past second-seeded Navy in the final. Cornell edged Harvard in 5:48.45, while Princeton took third in 5:53.87. The Princeton third varsity placed fifth in 6:00.42, while Cornell won in 5:50.39.
Princeton will face the nation's top lightweight crews again during the first weekend in June when the 2010 IRA national championship regatta will be held on Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.
Below are Princeton's gold-winning lineups:
First Varsity
c- Michael Perl (Princeton Junction, N.J.)
8- Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.)
7- Jack Leonard (Blue Bell, Pa.)
6- James Donovan (Easton, Conn.)
5- Christian Klein (Herndon, Va.)
4- Gianthomas Volpe (Napoli, Italy)
3- Barrett Lachance (Guilford, Conn.)
2- Alex Rubert (Garden City, N.Y.)
bow- Nick Donald (Seattle, Wash.)
Second Varsity
c- Erin Rosenbaum (San Francisco, Calif.)
8- John Votta (Wallingford, Pa.)
7- Steven Cutler (Lutz, Fla.)
6- Brian Kenney (Blue Bell, Pa.)
5- Nicolas Bax (Bethesda, Md.)
4- Connor Edel (Delran, N.J.)
3- David Hegermiller (Wading River, N.Y.)
2- Jarlath Byrne Rodgers (Toronto, Ont.)
bow- Derek Porter (Berwyn, Pa.)