Princeton University Athletics
Top-Ranked Open Women Prepare For Rutgers, Navy
April 01, 2011 | Women's Rowing - Open
The Princeton open crew, which vaulted past Virginia and into the No. 1 ranking this week, will compete in its first of four consecutive road regattas this Saturday when it heads to the Raritan River to take on both Rutgers and Navy.
Princeton, which reached the medal stand at both the 2010 EAWRC and NCAA Championships, opened the season ranked second nationally. With 1V, 2V and V4 victories over Top 10 teams in both Brown (#5) and Michigan State (#10), as well as a Virginia loss at No. 4 Stanford, Princeton now stands atop the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Coaches Poll.
The Tigers, who return the majority of their 1V boat from last season, won each of the three major NCAA races over Brown by at least two seconds last weekend, though head coach Lori Dauphiny expects both teams to get significantly faster over the next month.
Princeton did not race Navy last season, but it defeated Rutgers by more than 27 seconds in the 1V competition last season. Rutgers will be bringing in greater momentum this weekend; the Scarlet Knight 1V was named the BIG EAST Boat of the Week after winning at the Murphy Cup Regatta on the Schuykill River last weekend.
Navy finished third in the Murphy Cup final, behind only Rutgers and St. Joseph's.
This will be the start of a challenging road stretch for Princeton, which will follow this weekend with a trip to the Charles River for The Class of 1975 Cup regatta against No. 18 Cornell and No. 20 Harvard.