Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's Lightweights Believe Depth, Competition Will Key 2016 Success
March 24, 2016 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
The Princeton men's lightweights will compete for The Joseph Murtaugh Cup Saturday at 7:50 am in Annapolis against Navy, and then they will compete for The Fosburgh Cup Sunday at 9 am at Georgetown. Prior to those races, you can watch a season preview video by clicking the play link in the photo above.
Marty Crotty has challenged his lightweight rowers to make his job difficult. They answered that challenge in inspiring fashion, which has excited the seventh-year head coach and his talented staff.
But it has, indeed, made his job a challenge.
“Probably since 2011, I haven't had as much competition for the top boat,” he said. “A lot of guys have a legitimate shot of finding way into the first varsity. Nobody will make it by default, and nobody is getting a pass. That's a positive. [Assistant coach] Bill [Manning] and I have really been talking about that after every workout. The frustration is trying to make the fairest assessment.”
Depth is a great thing for any team, but for rowers, it forces consistent competition for your own spot. If you're in the top varsity, you want to stay there and race for a Sprints/Ivy League title. If you aren't, you're going to fight for that seat every chance you get.
“I feel really comfortable with our depth,” he said. “It's just a matter of whether we can get that top varsity eight. I don't think Cornell and Columbia has gotten any slower, so we need to get faster. Until you line up against competition, you never know. But just depth alone helps speed at the top end.”
Cornell and Columbia have been the standard in men's lightweight rowing over the last two seasons. The Big Red are the two-time reigning Sprints/IRA champion, while Columbia took silver in both and went 4-0 against the Tigers last season.
Princeton had a strong season itself; the Tigers won bronze at Eastern Sprints for a second straight year, and they retained the Goldthwait Cup in the annual H-Y-P weekend.
But to take that next step, to climb the top of the mountain, Crotty knows that he has to find an eight-man boat that can match the likes of the New York pair when it matters most.
The competition within the boathouse has been fierce, but it has also remained within the confines of seat challenges. The chemistry and energy that his team has produced this season has been consistently positive, which Crotty views as a good sign of the team's maturity.
“Our seniors have been through this four times,” he said. “The juniors have been through it three times. The freshmen have been in cutthroat situations in national or international competitions, and on average, they're very mature.
“You put together lineups that you think will perform in that order, but that's just what you do the Monday before you race,” Crotty added. “The expectation is that every crew you put together will continue to get better. If the 1 or the 3 or the 5 doesn't get better, they'll get passed by the 2, the 4 or the 6.”
Crotty, Manning and volunteer assistant Reid Johnson are helping drive the improvement, but they have relied on senior captain Isaiah Brown as well. You can't find a much better role model than Brown, a two-time Sprints medalist in the varsity eight and a recipient of the prestigious Shapiro Prize, a University academic award.
“Isaiah is our rock,” junior Henry Ogilby said. “He's one of a couple of guys on the squad who are absolutely baffling to many people, bringing an intense, constant level of focus to every aspect of life here that can't help but rub off on the rest of us. He never seems to take a second off, be it in the erg room, on a speed order set, or studying for midterms.
“For several years the men's lightweights have prided themselves on academic excellence as well as athletic achievement - really well rounded guys who bring it every day of the week,” he added. “This is where Isaiah is a role model leading by example to everyone, not just our frosh.”
Princeton will open this season with rivalry races at both Navy (Saturday, 7 am) and Georgetown (Sunday), and then will head to Columbia for its first showdown with one of the 2015 powers. From there, Princeton will host the next four races, including a Platt Cup showdown April 16 against Cornell and the Goldthwait/Vogel Cup regatta against Harvard and Yale April 30.