Princeton University Athletics
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Third-Ranked Lights Look For Repeat Magic vs. Rivals Harvard, Yale
April 24, 2015 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
GOLDTHWAIT CUP HISTORY l NATIONAL POLL
Junior Christian Wawrzonek is no stranger to this sport. He rowed four years at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School before joining the Princeton men's lightweights, where he has been part of two winning boats at the Head of the Charles and medaled in the varsity eight at Eastern Sprints.
So what does it tell you that his best day of rowing didn't come in any of the afore-mentioned events?
It tells you that H-Y-P weekend truly means something.
“Last year's HYP was probably the best day of my rowing career,” Wawrzonek said. “As fun as it was to take home the Goldthwait Cup for the Varsity 8, the best part of that day was the complete team sweep that lead to the winning of the Vogel Cup for best team performance for the first time since its inception in 2003. It showed a complete team wide domination and commitment to winning. “
The Harvard-Yale-Princeton rivalry is significant for many sports; the football team celebrates a bonfire on Cannon-Green when it beats both teams in the same season, and the swimming and track teams have specific H-Y-P meets during their season.
Results last weekend (the heavyweight men and lightweight women topped Harvard, while the open women defeated Yale) show how strong the rivalries between those schools are in the sport, but the lightweight men are the only ones to get a true H-Y-P weekend.
And few were as special as the one in 2014. The varsity eight held off a furious Yale sprint to win its 25th Goldthwait Cup — and first since 2009 — by only .3 of a second. The Tigers won every race of the morning, which meant the Vogel Cup would stay at Princeton for the first time in regatta history.
“It's often easy to forget that winning races is a result of teamwork from not just your own boat, but from your entire squad from day one,” Wawrzonek said. “It takes commitment to training and competing in the fall and pushing each other in the grueling winter, no matter the boat of the oarsman. That day, we showed we had the best team and we had the strongest commitment to winning.”
That commitment has been there again this season throughout the Tiger lineup. While each of these three boats will be chasing undefeated favorites Columbia and Cornell when Sprints comes around May 18 in Worcester, Mass., there is confidence within the program that Princeton is making sharp improvements each week.
“As a boat and as a team, we have made great strides over the past few weeks, and every race we are getting faster, smarter, and stronger,” Wawrzonek said. “The 1V has been finding great rhythm, culminating with a well-executed race last weekend against Penn that sets us up very well for this weekend. The 2V has so far gone undefeated in another fantastic season. With many underclassmen stepping up and supporting the 2V, they have endured some tough races and grueling finishes, including a come-from-behind win against Columbia and Navy.
“All of that goes into making a tougher and more experienced crew that I'm confident will be fully prepared going into Sprints ready to take the gold,” he added.
Cornell and Columbia will race this weekend on the Charles River (MIT is the host), so the winner of that will likely be the top seed at Sprints. The winner of Saturday's race on the Housatonic will get a major jolt of momentum heading into that championship event.
As history has shown, the lightweight field tends to be very close when Sprints rolls around.
Momentum could make all the difference in the world.
“Only one thing is certain in this league — nothing is certain,” Wawrzonek said. “Cornell and Columbia have both shown themselves to be excellent crews who certainly have the talent and capability win it all. That said, each team is making strides every week, and when the flag drops at Sprints this year, its anybody's race.”
Regardless, Saturday is more than a simple tune-up for the postseason. An H-Y-P event is never a tune-up. Harvard leads the all-time Goldthwait Cup series with 44 wins, while Princeton has 25 wins and Yale has 19. The Tigers have won three times since 2000; prior to last year's win, Princeton won in 2008, and then repeated in 2009.
Wawrzonek would like nothing more than a repeat of his best rowing day this weekend.