Princeton University
EARC Sprints
Lightweight Men Place Fifth At Eastern Sprints; 2V Earns Bronze Medal
May 19, 2013 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
For head coach Marty Crotty, there was plenty of satisfaction in the competitive fight put forth by his varsity eight, even if it fell short of the medal stand.
"I thought the three crews that won today were really good, and I take my hat off to them," said the fourth-year head coach. "I wish we hadn't gotten nipped at the end, but our guys were really aggressive those first 1,000 meters. We didn't work this hard for fifth place, but this is a building process, and I'm excited to work with these guys the next two weeks."
Princeton finished fifth overall in 6:13.45, which was less than a tenth of a second behind Columbia; the Lions, who Princeton defeated in the season finale, passed the Tigers for fourth during the final strokes of the race.
Princeton, as well as the rest of the lightweight field, will get another shot at dethroning Harvard in two weeks when the best boats in the country head to Sacramento, Calif., for the 2013 IRA national championships.
While the varsity eight will be seeking some hardware, the second varsity grabbed bronze medals in their Eastern finale. While Cornell and Harvard ended up posting their own golden duel, which the Big Red won by less than one second, Princeton fought off the remaining three boats to take third by more than three seconds.
"The 2V had a good race, and they weren't too far behind getting locked in that duel with Cornell and Harvard," Crotty said. "Those are the kinds of battles you have to get locked in, where they bring out that extra two or three percent. But it's nice to have something around your neck, even if you wanted the top of the podium."
Members of the second varsity will head to Sacramento to compete as a four, while four members of the lightweight freshmen (who finished fifth Sunday) will join four freshmen in the heavyweight third varsity to compete as a freshman eight at IRAs.
Varsity Eight
1 Harvard 6:03.607
2 Yale 6:07.967
3 Dartmouth 6:09.798
4 Columbia 6:13.371
5 Princeton 6:13.451
6 Cornell 6:16.839
Second Varsity Eight
1 Cornell 6:21.529
2 Harvard 6:22.199
3 Princeton 6:33.885
4 Yale 6:37.360
5 Columbia 6:40.631
6 Navy 6:48.644
Freshman Eight
1 Yale 6:23.968
2 Cornell 6:27.521
3 Penn 6:33.610
4 Dartmouth 6:37.500
5 Princeton 6:38.932
6 Harvard 6:39.817
Third Varsity Eight
1 Navy 6:43.150
2 Cornell 6:48.754
3 Harvard 6:50.958
4 Columbia 6:52.218
5 Navy 4V 7:00.285
6 Princeton 7:03.385
Third Varsity Four
1 Cornell 7:06.787
2 Navy 7:14.234
3 Penn 7:26.963
4 Princeton 7:28.970