Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Heavyweights Aim For Sport's Top Tier At Nearby IRA National Championships
May 28, 2015 | Heavyweight Rowing
LIVE RESULTS l LIVE VIDEO l WEEKEND SCHEDULE l PRINCETON HISTORY AT IRAs
Two weeks after winning the Rowe Cup at Eastern Sprints for the first time since 2005, and one year after posting its best IRA performance since 2006, the Princeton heavyweights have set a fairly high standard for themselves heading into this weekend.
Of course, that is how they want it. This is the goal they worked towards.
They want to move back into the elite tier of collegiate rowing, and they'll get the opportunity to compete against the nation's best this weekend when the top crews in the sport come to nearby Mercer Lake for the 2015 IRA National Championships (May 29-31).
The heavyweight varsity eight, coming off a bronze medal finish at the Eastern Sprints, will be the fifth seed in their field and will open Friday with an 8:45 heat against Drexel, Cornell, Northeastern, Dartmouth and Hobart. The top two finishers will head to the Saturday semifinals, scheduled for 10:48 and 11 am.
Princeton placed third in the Sprints final behind undefeated Yale and a strong Northeastern boat that passed the Tigers in the second half of the race. The Tigers edged Brown at the line for the second time in three weeks for the bronze, but they also left knowing where they needed to build upon.
“I think we all left Worcester knowing that we can execute a faster second 500 meters,” sophomore Nick Mead said. “Yale made a strong push early in the second 500 and held that margin for the rest of the race. We've shown that we can execute a quick last 750 in the Content Cup and the Sprints final, but we now know that we will have to commit to a more aggressive first half against Yale and Northeastern. Since leaving Worcester, Greg has emphasized aggressive base speed in training, and we are looking forward to showing that base speed in the IRA.”
Princeton went 8-1 on the season, with its only loss coming to Yale, and it never competed against Northeastern, so those are the two boats seeded right ahead of the Tigers. However, no Eastern boat since 2005 (Harvard) has won the IRA grand final, and both Washington and California will be the top two seeds when the competition starts Friday morning.
Of course, Princeton doesn't need to worry about those two boats Friday or Saturday. Taking care of your own business is the only priority before Sunday's 12:36 championship final.
“Its important to approach each day of the IRA with as much preparation and focus as we would for the final,” Mead said. “There is a ton of depth in the league right now, and every race, including Friday's heats, will be tight and hard fought.
“Racing over three days brings out the most in every crew because there is enough time to recover between races that no one will hold back in the heats or semifinals.,” Mead added. “So, we all will be ready to race hard on Friday and try to claim one of the two immediate spots for the semifinals.”
While there are only five seniors in the top three boats, there are a number of rowers who reached their own respective grand finals at the IRAs last year. Princeton reached the final for the 1V, 2V and 3V last year, and the 2V earned silver after its best performance of the season.
“Even more than simply experiencing racing at the IRA, I think the team will benefit from knowing that our rank coming into the IRA will not determine our result in Mercer,” said Mead, a member of that 2V boat last season. “Both the 1V and 2V preformed better than their ranking last year at IRAs, and beat crews that they had previously lost to at the Eastern Sprints two weeks prior. That experience will be valuable next week in Mercer, knowing that once we line up, its anyone's race.”
The 2V hasn't lost a race since that IRA final, going 8-0 this season and then winning gold at Sprints after two blazing races against Boston University. Princeton will be seeded third in the field, one spot ahead of the Terriers, and will take on Hobart, Penn, Brown and Columbia in a 9:30 heat.
“I thought it was our best race of the year so far and that the guys executed the piece very well,” senior David Octeau said of the Sprints final. “We kept our composure throughout the race and hopefully we can use that experience to remain even more calm and sharp in the thick of the races at IRAs.
“I don't think we feel any particular pressure from being unbeaten,” he added. “We know that other teams want to beat us, and that there are some teams out there that we haven't beaten yet, so we just keep working on trying to make our boat go faster. That really all that is on our minds right now.”
The 3V was seeded second at Sprints, but they overcame an early deficit to defeat top-seeded Cornell for the gold medal. Like the 2V boat, the 3V will be seeded third (Washington and California are 1-2 in every poll) and will take on Hobart, Wisconsin, Yale and Penn.
Princeton will send a freshman eight and a varsity four into the weekend as well; the freshmen will compete against Navy, California and Wisconsin at 11 am, while the four will take on Washington, MIT, Brown, Marietta and the Milwaukee School of Engineering at 11:36 am.