Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women?s Lightweights Seek Major Statement vs. Loaded Knecht Cup Field
April 09, 2015 | Women's Rowing - Lightweight
NATIONAL POLL
Two weeks after making its 2015 debut across the country, the Princeton women's lightweight rowing team will have a much shorter trip this weekend. But it's a journey that will give the Tigers a very good sense of just where they stand less than a month out from Eastern Sprints.
The fourth-ranked Tigers will take on most of the nation's best boats this weekend as they try to retain the Knecht Cup on Mercer Lake this Sunday. Reigning national champion Radcliffe will be one of the five teams ranked in the national Top 6 to be in the mix this weekend; the only boat not competing this weekend will be top-ranked Stanford, which Princeton faced at the San Diego Crew Classic.
“Getting to test ourselves this early in the season against some of our top competitors is invaluably helpful to our development,” said freshman coxswain Megan Mirabella. “This weekend is essentially our chance to race most of our fiercest competition on the exact same course as when we'll face them for IRAs at the end of May. Though we fully intend to deliver this weekend, no matter the results we can walk away from Knecht knowing exactly what to focus and work on during the next six weeks to be even more effective next time we face these crews.”
Mirabella has moved right into the coxswain position in her debut season, which can be an intimidating position if not fully accepted by older teammates.
“I was definitely intimidated to start off as the 1V coxswain so early in my college career, especially while still adjusting to our program and life at Princeton in general,” Mirabella said. “But our coaches Paul and Hank have been great to work with and immediately made me feel really at home in my role. Our senior co-captains Becky and Julia, in addition to my regular stern pair Juliette Hackett and Christina Warren and my older sister Katie, all also really helped to put me at ease by helping me learn the norms and routines of our team, giving me feedback, and teaching me about the differences between collegiate and high school competition.
“Their guidance and experience has been really helpful, particularly in preparing me for the races and teams I hadn't faced before this year,” Mirabella added.
The debut weekend for the lightweights featured a third-place finish in San Diego, behind only top-ranked Stanford and third-ranked Boston University. The Terriers, along with the likes of Bucknell and Wisconsin, will be in the field this weekend as well, and Mirabella hopes that some of the team's growth over the last two weeks will pay dividends this Sunday.
“San Diego was a great learning opportunity for us, because we were able to come home with the very specific focus of improving our ability to lift in power and rate during moves, especially in the last 500 meters,” she said. “That was where Stanford and BU took the majority of their margin in the final race, so we realized stepping up our game there could have a big impact.
“We've done a lot of promising work on that over the past two weeks, and I'm excited to see how that translates to our races this weekend,” Mirabella added. ”Additionally, as disappointed as we were by our results in San Diego, I think we've really effectively been channeling that into focus, motivation, and aggression during our time on the water.”