Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Lightweights Prepare Chase For Third Straight Ivy, National Title
March 24, 2011 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
On the foundation of two straight Ivy League and IRA national titles and its stirring, record-setting performance at the 2010 Head of the Charles, the Princeton men's lightweight crew has only goal as it opens its 2011 season this weekend — keep getting better.
Of course, if that goal brought on the trifecta in both Ivy and national titles, all the better.
The Princeton men's lightweight crew, winners of 20 of its last 21 regular-season races, will open the 2011 season Saturday morning against Navy on Lake Carnegie. The regatta is scheduled to follow the open women's competition against Brown and Michigan State, and the first men's race (3V) should go off at 10:45 a.m. The first varsity will compete at 11:30, and the final race (2F) should start at noon. A full weekend home schedule will be available at the bottom of this story.
While the Tigers lost a pair of strong rowers from the 2010 championship boat, there is plenty of talent remaining on the roster of head coach Marty Crotty. The 2010 EARC Men's Lightweight Coach of the Year, Crotty was pleased with the offseason workouts, especially the training trip to Austin, but has cautioned his team about the always-competitive men's lightweight field.
Princeton and Harvard were as close as can be last season, with each team taking one race and being nearly even through 1250 meters in the national championship final. But it was Navy that actually caught Harvard in the final 750 at IRAs and placed second nationally, which will leave Saturday as a challenging first test for the Tigers this season.
Princeton will be led by seniors Robin Prendes and Christian Klein, both of whom rowed for the 2009 and 2010 championship first varsity boats. Both rowed in the 2010 U-23 World Championships, and both were parts of Princeton's record-setting victory at the 2010 Head of the Charles. While a head race is far longer than a traditional 2,000-meter collegiate race, the Tigers' dominance can not be understated. Princeton beat both the course record and the rest of the field by more than 12 seconds with a finishing time of 14:09.92. Almost as impressive was the performance of Princeton's second boat; the second Tiger crew placed seventh overall in 14:37.05 and defeated every college's top boat except for Cornell and Harvard.
This isn't the first winning effort in the last year by the Princeton second varsity. The Tigers won the 2V grand final at the 2010 EARC Championships, and the novice eight also medalled. So Crotty has both championship experience and talented depth entering his second season as head coach.
His team will need both, as it won't race again on Lake Carnegie following next weekend's Fosburgh Cup regatta against Georgetown and Columbia. Trips to Cornell, Penn and a season-ender at Harvard will challenge a Tiger squad that will have a big target on its back entering the 2011 postseason.
But this team didn't worry about that target last year, and there is no reason to assume anything will change when the 2011 season begins Saturday morning.
Open Women v. Brown/Michigan State • The Class of 1987 Trophy
9:00 • V4+B
9:20 • 3V
9:40 • V4+A
10:00 • 2V
10:20 • 1V
Lightweight Men v. Navy/MIT
10:45 • 3V
11:00 • 1F
11:15 • 2V
11:30 • 1V
11:45 • 4V
12:00 • 2F