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Fourth-Ranked Heavies Vie For Navy-Princeton Cup To Open April Push
April 03, 2015 | Heavyweight Rowing
The fourth-ranked Princeton heavyweights know they will be put to a physical test Saturday morning when they take on Navy to start a full day of racing on Lake Carnegie.
The Midshipmen are currently ranked 13th in the national poll, but anybody who was part of last season's showdown on the Severn River knows just how tough the Navy boats will be.
“Navy is one of the toughest competitors we will face, especially early in the season, when we haven't had as much water time as we hoped and aren't as developed as we've been,” junior Martin Barakso said during his appearance on TigerCast this week (see link above). “Racing Navy early in the season is pretty special. They take this race very seriously, as do we. Both crews always look forward to it, so it is a good rivalry.
“Last year, it was 1.4 seconds that separated our boats, and the 2V and 3V were even closer,” he added. “It's really good to race such a tough competitor like Navy early in the season.”
The Navy-Princeton Cup, which was introduced more than a century ago and then returned to annual competition recently, is on the line Saturday. Over the last three seasons, Princeton has won the varsity eight race, though it has never been by more than four seconds.
Last season, each of the top three races were fairly close, especially the 2V, which Princeton won by .2 of a second. That Tiger 2V ended up earning a silver medal at the IRA Championships, so it was certainly a good early test for the group.
While every Cup race is special, and there is some significant ones against Ivy League rivals coming up over the next few weeks, the Tigers are also well aware of the steps that need to be taken to reach their ultimate goals. After all, with the limited water time following another harsh winter, every opportunity on the water is another step hopefully towards the postseason medal stands.
“Right now, we're looking to win the early Cup races, but we know that it's going to take a few weeks before we're a top crew,” Barakso said. “We're trying to win these races, but we're also looking to the long term and trying to make little strides each week to make us better.”