Princeton University Athletics
Men's Heavyweights Open IRA Nationals With Trio Of Top-4 Boats
June 02, 2011 | Heavyweight Rowing
LIVE VIDEO l FULL IRA COVERAGE l PRINCETON AT THE 2011 EARC CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Princeton men's heavyweight crew will open the 2011 IRA National Championships, held June 2-4 at Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J, with a trio of fourth-ranked boats. Among those three will be a varsity eight looking to reach the medal stand for the first time since 2006.
Head coach Greg Hughes will send a varsity eight, second varsity eight and novice eight into this weekend's national championship regatta, which will feature a maximum of 18 boats competing in morning heats on Thursday. If you are able to get to Cooper River Thursday morning, keep an eye on Lane 4, as each of Princeton's three boats will start their championship weekend from that lane.
Opening the championships will be the varsity eight, which went 7-1 on the regular season and rallied for second place at the EARC Championships, held three weeks ago in Worcester, Mass. Despite the fact that the top boats from across the nation will be competing for the IRA national championship, Princeton's 8:30 opening heat will have a very familiar feel; the Tigers will be in an Ivy-only heat, where six of the Ancient Eight programs will compete for two automatic berths in Friday's semifinals.
Princeton, seeded fourth overall, will open in Lane 4, right next to EARC champion Harvard (Lane 3). The Crimson was the only team to defeat the Tigers in the regular season, and it was the only team to defeat the Tigers in the EARC grand final. Harvard is seeded third overall, behind only top-seeded Washington and second-seeded California. Joining the two Ivy powers in the semifinal will be Columbia (Lane 1), Yale (2), Dartmouth (5) and Penn (6). Princeton defeated both Columbia and Penn for the Childs Cup, and it topped Yale for the Carnegie Cup. None of those three, nor Dartmouth, reached the EARC grand final.
The top two finishers will automatically move to Friday's semifinals, while the rest will compete in the afternoon repechages, which begin at 2 p.m. From the two repechages, the top three will move to the semifinals, while the remaining teams will compete in the third-level final.
The second varsity is also the fourth seed and will compete at 8:45 in the first of three heats. Like the first varsity, the Tiger 2V went 7-1 during the regular season and lost only to Harvard. Princeton will race against Boston University (Lane 1), Brown (2), Washington (3), and Penn (5) in the morning, with the top three moving to the semifinal. The Tigers topped both Brown and Penn during the regular season, though both were close races.
The bottom two in the morning heat will compete in the 2:30 repechage, where the top three will make up the final trio of semifinalists.
The novice eight joined the varsity eight as silver medalists at the EARC Championships, and their drive towards another trip to the medal stand opens at 9:30 a.m. in the first of three opening heats. Princeton will compete in Lane 4 and take on Penn (Lane 1), Wisconsin (2), Washington (3), Yale (5) and Gonzaga (6) in a heat that will send two to the semifinal. Princeton topped both Penn and Yale handily during the regular season and topped all EARC finalists besides Harvard by at least two seconds in its grand final.
The novice eight repechages will begin at 2:45 p.m.; three apiece will move to the semifinals.
In a venture partially sponsored by Princeton men's rowing, all racing from this weekend's IRA Championships will be streamed live. Click on the link at the top of the story for the live video.