Princeton University Athletics
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Third-Seeded Lights Look To Upset Empire State Duo, Claim 17th Sprints Title
May 14, 2015 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
LIVE RESULTS l LIVE VIDEO l RACE SCHEDULE l FINAL SEEDING POLLS
PRINCETON HISTORY AT EASTERN SPRINTS
Outside of a pair of Empire State powers, Princeton's best has been good enough this season. But the Tiger men's lightweights have the ultimate goal in front of them this weekend — a 17th Eastern Sprints title — and they know they'll need something even better Sunday afternoon on Lake Quinsigamond.
Top-seeded Cornell and second-seeded Columbia have handed Princeton every regular-season loss the Tigers have experienced over the last two seasons. Since the start of the 2014 season, the Tigers are 0-2 against Cornell, 0-4 against Columbia and 15-0 against the rest of the world (or at least the collegiate lightweight field).
Senior captain Casey Ward understands that his team isn't the favorite. But he also feels good about the position his boat will hold when it reaches Worcester this weekend, especially after a season-ending loss to Columbia, when the Tigers shaved six seconds off an earlier loss.
"You never feel great after a loss, and we have focused on the fact that there is no such thing as a moral victory, but we feel good about where we were in finding our own boat speed," Ward said. "It wasn't our best race, so there was room for improvement, but it was encouraging to come off the water, be able to point to something and say that we can fix this. We can get seats out of this. I feel good about that, and we have made strides since then."
Those strides will be necessary in a race that has historically featured wild finishes. Cornell is the reigning Sprints and national champion, but the Big Red needed to defeat one opponent by a second in each race. At Sprints, it was Yale; at IRAs, it was Harvard.
During the regular season, Princeton defeated both those boats. Now their goal is to have their best performance when it matters most.
"Crews will throw something crazy out in the first 1,000 meters because it's the Eastern Sprints, and the whole field gets pulled up with them," Ward said. "That's exciting. Having guys who have had that experience at Sprints will really help us.
"If any crew comes into the weekend and doesn't have their best race, they won't be in contention for the gold medal," he added. "It's up in the air, but there are definitely some crews that have more momentum going into the race, and I feel good about where we stand."
All races will be streamed live over the weekend, and you can access that link at the top of this release. The varsity boat will open its day with a 10 am heat and will need a top-three finish to qualify for the 4:45 grand final. Columbia will be in that Princeton heat; if the Tigers can win the heat, they would likely race in a lane between both Cornell and Columbia, which would allow them to keep tabs on the two favorites.
Princeton will send six eights to Sprints, the most in program history. Princeton won five Jope Cup titles (overall team points award) between 1995-2000, but has won only two since then. The last came in 2010, which is also the last year Princeton won the Sprints title, and the Tigers would love to bring both home this weekend.
"It would mean so much to me," senior Matthew Drabick said. "It's really hard to express. I started my freshman year in the 2F, and maybe we didn't get as much focus. Now it's great to see us not be divided by boat class, but to really come together as an entire team. We have six boats going up, and they all receive world-class coaching."
"It's a huge day for the team, and it's really special," Ward added. "As the lightweight team, we don't get to take our entire squad to the IRAs. So this is the big last hoo-rah for the squad, and we have six 8s going up to Worcester, which is something we've never done before. Our team is really big, and I credit that to our team culture. We support each other, and we'd love to see every boat go really fast."
While Ward believes the experience in the varsity boat will be critical, there are plenty of younger rowers throughout all six boats. Drabick believes both their own individual backgrounds and the rigors of the challenging Princeton schedule will help prepare them for Sunday.
"A lot of them have been to big regattas before," he said. "They may not have the collegiate experience, but they build that during the season. Big regattas like H-Y-P really do give you a sense of tight racing and fast boats, fast conditions. That helps prepare you for it."
The Tiger 2V is the fourth seed and races in the 10:48 heat, and will hope to race for the gold medal during the 3:30 grand final.
The 3V went 8-1, with its only loss to Cornell on the Cayuga Inlet, and will be the second seed in its field. That boat races in an 8:30 heat, with hopes of reaching the 2:00 grand final.
The rest of the Princeton boats will be in finals only. The 4V is seeded third and races at 1:12 pm. The 5V and 6V will both compete in the 5V final at 12:48 pm.