Princeton University Athletics
Men's Lightweights Look For History, Three-Peat At IRA Championships
June 03, 2011 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
LIVE VIDEO l FULL IRA COVERAGE
For each of the previous two years, the Princeton men's lightweight crew was the last team standing after the IRA national championships. Both times, though, the Tigers came in off EARC success and as the favorite.
When Princeton gets to Cooper River Saturday morning for its semifinal heat in the 2011 IRA national championships, it will come in as an underdog.
Of course, that won't mean a thing at 11:45 a.m., when the top teams in the sport line up for the grand final. Should Princeton be on that line, it will be as dangerous as anybody in the field. Led by captain Robin Prendes, the 2011 Roper Cup co-winner as the Top Male Senior Athlete at Princeton, and two-time national champion Christian Klein, Princeton has the experience to deal with the pressure that comes with 2,000 meters for a national championship.
Princeton went 8-1 on the regular season and was ranked atop the national poll for much of the year. During the final weekend of the regular season, then-No. 2 Harvard topped the Tigers by less than two seconds to win the Goldthwait Cup and assume the top seed for the EARC Championships.
The Crimson followed that up with a victory at Eastern Sprints, but Princeton also ended up finishing behind both Dartmouth and Yale in that final. It was a disappointing result, but head coach Marty Crotty and his team quickly turned their attention to this weekend.
Princeton and Harvard were locked in a terrific duel in the 2010 IRA final, which the Tigers won by pulling away in the final 750 meters. Catching Harvard in the second half of a race has been an issue for Princeton so far this season, but the Tigers still have one golden opportunity to do so and create program history.
Princeton has won eight national championships, including back-to-back titles in both 1988-89 and 2009-10, but it has never won three straight.
That opportunity comes Saturday. Underdog or not, Princeton has earned it and should not be overlooked.
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.
