Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
NCAA Day 1
Open Crew Gets Ideal NCAA Start, Sends All Three To Saturday Semis
May 28, 2010 | Women's Rowing - Open
Survive and advance is a popular term when it comes to NCAA tournaments, and it is certainly a fitting one over the first two days of the NCAA women's rowing championships, held this weekend on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif. The second-ranked Princeton open crew sent each of its three boats to Saturday semifinals during the first session of the 2010 NCAA Championship regatta.
The NCAA championship will be awarded Sunday to the program with the best aggregate score of its top three boats: a varsity eight, a second varsity eight and a varsity four. While you can't win that title until Sunday, you can certainly lose it earlier by failing to qualify a boat in either of the first two days.
For Princeton, day one was a success. Second-place finishes by the first and second varsity and third-place finish for the varsity four assured each spots in Saturday's semifinals. The first varsity will compete Saturday in either the 9 or 9:15 a.m. semifinal (all times PST), the second varsity will compete in either the 9:30 or 9:45 semifinal and the varsity four will compete at either 10 or 10:15. The top three finishers in each semifinal will advance to Sunday's grand finals; last season, the top four team finishers each had all three of its boats reach the championship finals.
All of Friday's times and, when available, Saturday's lane assignments, can be found here.
The first varsity eight had to wait for the third elimination heat to begin its weekend, and it found itself in a quick showdown with the top-ranked Virginia Cavaliers. Those two crews quickly proved to be the class of the heat, easily claiming the first two qualifying spots.
Virginia led the race at every split and finished first overall in 6:19.81, while Princeton maintained second place throughout the race. By the midway point of the race, the Tigers held a near 10-second edge on Clemson to stay in one of the top three spots and didn't need to press for the final 1,000 meters. Princeton advanced to Friday's semifinal in 6:25.58, while UCLA held off Clemson for the third qualifying spot.
There were no major surprises in the rest of the elimination heats, which saw all three Ivy League crews also qualify for the semifinals. Both Brown and Yale advanced during the second heat, although Stanford rallied past Yale to win the race.
The Princeton second varsity also found itself in a showdown with Virginia during the first of three elimination heats. And like the varsity eight race, those two boats would leave the field and battle for first throughout the 2,000 meters. Princeton actually got out to a 2-second advantage through the first 500 meters, but the top-ranked Cavaliers began to cut into that lead by the midway point of the race.
While Virginia took the lead with only 500 meters remaining, Princeton still held more than a 10-second edge over Tennessee to earn one of the three qualifying spots. The Cavaliers finished first in 6:34.09, while Princeton — which won an EAWRC 2V title two weeks ago — finished second in 6:37.71. Yale held off a late Tennessee charge to finish third and move on to the semifinal.
The varsity four had to work the hardest to advance, but a strong final surge made sure Princeton was a perfect 3-for-3 in elimination heats. In the third of the varsity four showdowns, Princeton got out quickly and led through the first 500 meters. By the midway point, Wisconsin took over and Princeton was locked in a battle with Brown, which won the 4s title at the EAWRC championships.
With 500 meters remaining, Wisconsin held an edge over Brown, while Princeton was trying to fight off Stanford for the third qualifying spot. The Tiger lead was less than one second heading into the final split, but Princeton used a strong sprint home to build on that edge assure a spot in a Friday semifinal. Wisconsin won in 7:15.45, while Brown took second in 7:18.25. Princeton nearly caught the Bears for second, but still topped Stanford by more than two seconds to qualify in 7:18.46.