Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
NCAA Day 2
Tiger Four Pushes Past California To Race For Gold At NCAA Championships
May 30, 2015 | Women's Rowing - Open
The varsity four is the only Princeton boat which will race for gold Sunday. The varsity eight, which defeated Yale and outperformed its seed in the Friday heats, could not pull off a second straight upset performance. The Tigers finished fifth in their semifinal and will race in the petite final.
The second varsity was in total control of its C/D semifinal and will race in the C final Sunday at 9 am.
The drama came mostly in the varsity four semifinal, and it especially occurred in the final 500 meters. Yale took control of the semifinal early and never was in doubt of losing one of the three direct tickets to the 'A' final.
Everything else was up for grabs until the final strokes. With 500 meters to go, California held a slim lead over Princeton, and both were trying to hold off reigning NCAA champion Ohio State, which was trying to put all three of its boats in the A final.
As it turned out, neither could hold the hard-charging Buckeyes off. So Princeton did the next best thing, which was to push past the Golden Bears. Ohio State took second in 7:24.029, less than half a second faster than the Tigers.
Princeton finished in 7:24.398, just ahead of California (7:24.576), though nobody could be totally certain as it happened. While the Tigers recovered from their grueling pace, they learned that they would be back racing for gold. Princeton will be in Lane 6 Sunday at 10:24 am PT against Virginia (1), Yale (2), Brown (3), Ohio State (4) and Washington (5).
The varsity eight put forth the same effort, but a loaded field left the Tigers in the petite final. Princeton pushed the pace in the first half of the race, and it used the fastest second 500 in the field to be in third place at the midway point. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they couldn't hold that pace and went from third to fifth during the third split, and they finished there in a time of 6:44.499.
Princeton will race at 11 am PT from Lane 3 in the petite final, and it will be joined by Brown (1), Michigan (2), Washington State (4), Harvard (5) and Indiana (6).
The second varsity had to race twice Saturday after finishing fourth in its heat, and it made sure to take care of business early in its C/D semifinal. The Tigers led at the 500, 1000 and 1500 meter marks and won in 6:51.267, nearly four seconds faster than USC.
Princeton will race in the 9 am PT C final from Lane 1 against Harvard (2), USC (3), Massachusetts (4), Northeastern (5) and Notre Dame (6).
VARSITY EIGHT A/B SEMIFINAL
Ohio State 6:29.322
Stanford 6:33.274
Washington 6:34.602
Brown 6:39.211
Princeton 6:44.499
Harvard 6:48.674
SECOND VARSITY EIGHT C/D SEMIFINAL
Princeton 6:51.267
USC 6:55.057
Northeastern 7:01.595
Gonzaga 7:05.433
Navy 7:20.607
VARSITY FOUR A/B SEMIFINAL
Yale 7:19.265
Ohio State 7:24.029
Princeton 7:24.398
California 7:24.576
Michigan 7:32.622
Notre Dame 7:35.526