Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Day Two
Heavyweights Will Compete For National Title; Trio Reaches IRA Finals
June 03, 2011 | Heavyweight Rowing
LIVE VIDEO l FULL IRA COVERAGE
A pressure-packed Friday morning went perfectly for the Princeton men's heavyweight crew, which sent each of its three boats to Saturday grand finals at the 2011 IRA national championships, held on Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J. Among that trio is the varsity eight, which will race for the program's fourth national championship.
The Princeton varsity eight reached its first IRA grand final since 2007 by finishing third in its semifinal heat. The fourth-seeded Tigers came out strong against a field that included western power California and Ivy League rivals Brown and Cornell; while beating the entire group was an objective, the first goal was to finish in the top three and reach Saturday's grand final (12:15 p.m.). California and Brown both got out early, although Princeton and Cornell made moves to get within the top three.
Cal took the race by more than 2.8 seconds over Brown, which held off a Princeton move for second. The Tigers' main competition came from Cornell, which made its move in the final 1,000. Princeton, however, had its own move late in the race and beat Cornell by more than two seconds in a time of 5:34.12.
"These guys were out there to race today, but certainly the main objective is getting to the grand final," head coach Greg Hughes said. "We knew we had the speed to be a contender in the final, but we had to do the work to get there. These are some fast conditions, which makes for tight, exciting racing."
Princeton will compete in Lane 1 of a loaded grand final, which also includes Brown (2), California (3), Harvard (4), Washington (5) and Wisconsin (6).
This is a big move forward for the Tigers, who didn't have a varsity eight in the 2009 field and placed 12th overall last year.
"This is really a credit to our senior class, which has completed two years of hard work and one year of great leadership," Hughes said. "We have five in our 1V and two in our 2V, and they have stepped up so much for the program this year.
"I think last year, we lived too much off our results at Easterns," Hughes added, referring to a second-place finish at the 2010 EARC Championships (a result matched three weeks ago). "We learned a good lesson. Nothing was given to us. That's not how it works."
The second varsity needed to work even harder to reach the grand final. Following a two-race Thursday, which included a victory in the afternoon repechage, Princeton found itself in a three-team battle for the final spot in the 10:30 a.m. final. Harvard and Wisconsin established themselves in the top two spots early on, and Princeton, Brown and Yale were left fighting for the crucial third spot. The early edge belonged to Yale, but both Brown and Princeton had moments ahead of the trio in the final 1,000.
But after 2,000 — the only mark that matters — it was Princeton heading to the grand final.
"That was a gutsy, gutsy race," Hughes said. "There were probably six boats in that semifinal that could have earned a spot in the final. It was their best piece all year."
The freshman eight continued its terrific weekend by qualifying for its grand final, along with heat winner Cal and Ivy League rival Brown. Both Princeton and Brown spent the second half of the race knowing that fourth-place Navy and fifth-place Columbia were well behind, so their spots in the championship final were all but assured. Cal won the race in 5:39.90, while Princeton ended up topping Brown by more than 2.7 seconds; the Tigers' finishing time of 5:44.79 will land them in Lane 2 of a loaded championship field in the 10 a.m. final.
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.