Princeton University
Ivy League Championships
Players Mentioned
Open Rowing Claims Five Medals, Including V8 Bronze, At Ivy Championships
May 17, 2015 | Women's Rowing - Open
The Tigers gained speed. They even cut into the deficit from the season-opening showdown in the Class of 1987 Trophy regatta. They just didn't gain enough against a Brown boat that went unbeaten against Ivy League competition in 2015.
Brown won the 2015 Ivy League title with a dominant performance in the final race of the Ivy Championships regatta, held on Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J. Princeton stayed with Brown for the first 1000 meters, trailing by less than one second at the midway point, but the Bears were too strong (6:15.42) in the final half to be knocked off.
Ultimately, Yale grabbed second place with a blazing third split; Princeton pushed back at the Bulldogs in the final strokes, but it would not have enough to grab silver. Yale took second in 6:18.90, while Princeton finished third in 6:19.70.
"Brown came out strong and kept inching away throughout the race," sophomore Catherine Babiec said. "However Yale took a big push in the back half of the third 500 that gave them momentum to push through us the remainder of the race. Our race was gutsy and aggressive. It's hard to be too upset with an all-out effort, even if it wasn't the result we wanted. It's a race to build upon."
Those three were clear of the rest of the field, as Harvard took fourth in the 6:24.54, while both Cornell and Columbia were both at least six seconds behind that time.
One of Princeton's most exciting finishes came in the first medal race of the day, as the third varsity eight edged Harvard by less than .2 of a second to claim bronze. The medal came after a furious finishing 500; the Tigers trailed the Crimson by nearly three seconds entering the final split, but they put their bow in front in the final strokes to get on the medal stand.
The V4C was Princeton's lone gold medalist, and it was in full control of its final. The Tigers won in 7:31.83, nearly 10 full seconds ahead of Harvard.
Both of the other varsity fours were medalists as well. The B topped Harvard by nearly four seconds to take silver, while the A took bronze in 7:14.31. The top four, one of three boats that will hope to head to Sacramento in two weeks for the NCAA Championships, just couldn't break into the Brown-Yale showdown for gold, but it was more than 13 seconds faster than anybody else in the pack for the bronze medal.
The second varsity eight did find itself in a showdown, but it came out on the short end and missed the medal stand. Brown was in control for much of the race, while it appeared that Yale would challenge for gold and Princeton and Harvard would race for bronze. The back-and-forth between the latter two went to Harvard, and the Crimson rode that momentum past Yale late for an impressive silver medal.
Princeton will now await the Monday announcement of the field for the 2015 NCAA Championships, which will be held at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center in Gold River, Calif. Princeton is one of three programs (Brown and Washington) which has competed at every NCAA Championships since the inaugural regatta in 1997.
"Every race so far this season has been building on what we've been working on this season, so I'm excited to see what our next piece will bring," Babiec said. "We're hoping for the opportunity to compete at NCAA's, and looking forward to good racing if we get that opportunity."
Varsity Eight
1. Brown 6:15.421
2. Yale 6:18.900
3. Princeton 6:19.703
4. Harvard 6:24.538
5. Cornell 6:31.128
6. Columbia 6:45.418
Second Varsity Eight
1. Brown 6:21.793
2. Harvard-Radcliffe 6:27.138
3. Yale 6:29.471
4. Princeton 6:35.888
5. Cornell 6:46.797
6. Penn 6:50.640
Varsity Four A
1. Brown 7:08.818
2. Yale 7:10.197
3. Princeton 7:14.312
4. Penn 7:27.709
5. Radcliffe 7:31.360
6. Dartmouth 7:37.220
Varsity Four B
1. Brown 6:59.255
2. Princeton 7:02.820
3. Harvard 7:06.601
4. Yale 7:06.631
5. Penn 7:23.976
6. Cornell 7:30.298
Third Varsity Eight
1. Yale 6:29.323
2. Brown 6:33.737
3. Princeton 6:36.366
4. Harvard 6:36.547
5. Cornell 6:52.545
6. Dartmouth 6:59.728
7. Penn 7:20.621
Varsity Four C
1. Princeton C 7:31.830
2. Harvard C 7:41.420
3. Penn C 7:42.182
4. Cornell C 7:42.717
5. Princeton D 7:48.147
6. Brown C 8:00.673
Team Points Title
1. Brown 87
2. Yale 72
3. Princeton 69
4. Harvard 64
5. Cornell 41
6. Penn 36
7. Columbia 19
7. Dartmouth 19
LINEUPS
3v8: Minjia Tang (Cox), Rachel Reed (Stroke), Meredith Bertasi, Erin Nurre, Bridget Leire, Allison Diamond, Ciara Nutter, Anna Kalfaian, Charlotte McMeekin
C4+: Amelia Goldrup (Cox), Kelly Bojic (Stroke), Hannah Priddy, Katie O'Malley, Diana Turbayne
D4+: Bertha Wang (Cox), Quinn Gruver (Stroke) Kanoe Shizuru, Katharina Gebert, Nicole Neville
B4+: Aryanna Navarro (Cox), Erica Swartwout (Stroke), Olivia McShea, Riley MacAulay, Brianna Gilbert
A4+: Kate Elfers (Cox), Caroline Barry, Melissa Curtis, Isabella Nappa, Sarah Muse
2V8: Amanda Rutherford (Cox), Anna Ionson (Stroke), Liza McBride, Bridget Jacques, Annalies Paine, Dagmara Lapins, Brett Simpson, Emily Burr, Katherine Mayhew
1V8: Olivia Sayvetz (Cox), Faith Richardson (Stroke), Catherine Babiec, Georgie Howe, Meghan Wheeler, Diana Kenealy, Erin Reelick, Maryann McNulty, Nicki Byl