Princeton University
Platt Cup: Cornell
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Top-Ranked Cornell Retains Platt Cup During Close Day Of Lightweight Racing
April 11, 2015 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
CASEY WARD on TIGERCAST l NATIONAL POLL l PLATT CUP HISTORY
The top-ranked Cornell men's lightweights retained the Platt Cup Saturday morning on the Cayuga Inlet, but the fourth-ranked Princeton Tigers showed that they were right there with the program that currently stands atop the field following its 2014 national title.
Princeton, in its first road competition of the season, was within 3.5 seconds in both the 1V and 3V races, while the Princeton second varsity remained unbeaten in 2015 with an exciting 1.1-second victory. That race is the Tigers' lone win on the Cayuga since 2011, and it showed just how much depth exists in the program.
"We came into this season proud of our depth as team," junior coxswain Sven Henningson said. "It pushes everyone to be on their game and work harder towards our common goals. As Marty has said before, we win as a team and lose as a team. The JV's victory today is a product of our cooperative team culture that pushes everyone to be faster and is shared by all. Hopefully we can turn our success so far into wins in all boat classes, next week and beyond."
Cornell picked up its 14th win in the 50-year history of the Platt Cup by finishing its home course in exactly six minutes, while Princeton finished second in 6:03.2. As it turns out, that would be the largest margin of victory among the top three races, a sign of just how close the competition was.
The second varsity moved to 4-0 on the season by taking its race in 5:57.1, while Cornell took second in 5:58.2. It followed a victory of just under three seconds against second-ranked Columbia last weekend.
"We executed our race plan really well today," senior Fabrizio Giovannini Filho said. "We went into the race knowing that it was going to be really close and stayed tough even when we were down off the start. Cornell is very strategic in the way they approach the turns and bridges in their race course, and we did a really good job at counteracting their moves in the middle of the race. As a boat with quite a few underclassmen, we have gotten better this season at focusing on being aggressive and pushing together when we need to.
"It is really promising that we already have some good speed at this point in the season," senior Fabrizio Giovannini Filho added, "but there is a lot of room for improvement. Today we were down off the start and had to fight our way back in the middle 1,000m. Our base speed is really good and if we can better execute our first and last 500m, we will be in a great place going into Sprints."
The Big Red took the remaining three races. The 3V edged Princeton by three seconds in 6:17.5, while both the 4V and 5V claimed wins by at least eight seconds apiece.
Princeton will make a much shorter road trip next weekend, as it heads to the Schuylkill River to compete with both Penn and Georgetown in the Wood-Hammond Cup regatta. Princeton and Penn have competed for the Wood-Hammond Cup since 1941, and Princeton holds an all-time 59-12 advantage in the series.
The Tigers have won nine straight in the series, including a win by nearly 10 seconds on Lake Carnegie last weekend.
Varsity Eight
Cornell 6:00.0
Princeton 6:03.2
Second Varsity Eight
Princeton 5:57.1
Cornell 5:58.2
Third Varsity Eight
Cornell 6:17.5
Princeton 6:20.5
Fourth Varsity Eight
Cornell 6:35.1
Princeton 6:44.9
Fifth Varsity Eight
Cornell 6:31.6
Princeton 6:40.0