Princeton University Athletics
Women's Lightweights Will Return To IRA Championship Final After Rep Win
May 30, 2015 | Women's Rowing - Lightweight
LIVE RESULTS l LIVE VIDEO l WEEKEND SCHEDULE l PRINCETON HISTORY AT IRAs
It wasn't the quick and easy route that Princeton had hoped for, but the women's lightweight varsity eight will return to compete for the IRA national championship Sunday after winning its Saturday repechage.
Princeton will join the other top-six crews in the sport — Stanford, Harvard, Boston Univ., Wisconsin and Georgetown — to compete at 8:50 am Sunday morning on Mercer Lake for the national title (that time could change based on weather, so please check GoPrincetonTigers.com or @PUTigers tonight).
Princeton will also send its varsity four to the 10:30 grand final after a dominant performance in its opening heat. That Tiger boat finished in 7:37.412 to top MIT by more than 13 seconds, and it will face off against the likes of Stanford, Wisconsin and Harvard in the final.
You can watch all the races Sunday by clicking on the "Live Video" link above.
The varsity eight found itself locked in a tight duel with Wisconsin during the first heat of IRA Saturday morning. Top-ranked Stanford got out early and never looked in danger of losing one of the top two spots and the automatic berth in the grand final. Princeton and Wisconsin traded punches throughout the race, but the Badgers used an impressive final 500 to gain the spot in the grand finals.
Princeton knew it would have another opportunity later in the day, and it wasn't about to make that one close. The Tigers flew off the start to gain an immediate lead over Georgetown, and they were in clear control of a spot in the grand final by the midway point. The Tigers took the race in 6:45.398, nearly three seconds faster than Georgetown and more than nine seconds ahead of Villanova, which missed out on the grand final.
"All you have to do is look at the results of the two heats to see that we got a rough deal in having to go to the rep," head coach Paul Rassam said. "But we have some strong-willed young women on our team. I'm confident that they will bounce back and race really well tomorrow."
Now it comes down to one race for the Tigers, which will come to the course Sunday with at least one win over every boat in the field besides Stanford. The Tigers raced Stanford in San Diego during the opening weekend; since then, Princeton has defeated Boston University during the Knecht Cup and Harvard during the Class of 1999 Cup weekend.
They may not have taken the easiest route to Sunday, but they will take the line knowing they are a true darkhorse contender for the IRA gold.
There was one lightweight grand final decided Saturday, and the Tiger double finished sixth overall in 7:59.522; Wisconsin, Stanford, and Boston University went 1-2-3 to make the medal stand.
VARSITY EIGHT HEAT
1 Stanford 6:34.018
2 Wisconsin 6:36.996
3 Princeton 6:39.274
4 Villanova 7:03.634
5 Tulsa 7:07.520
VARSITY FOUR HEAT
1 Princeton 7:37.412
2 MIT 7:50.706
3 Georgetown 7:57.186
4 Tulsa 8:22.997
VARSITY EIGHT REPECHAGE
1 Princeton 6:45.398
2 Georgetown 6:48.044
3 Villanova 6:54.575
4 Tulsa 6:56.529
5 MIT 6:57.491
DOUBLE GRAND FINAL
1 Wisconsin 7:38.115
2 Stanford 7:42.455
3 Boston Univ. 7:50.758
4 Harvard 7:54.337
5 Oklahoma City 7:58.180
6 Princeton 7:59.522
7 MIT 8:29.398