Princeton University
The Joseph Murtaugh Cup: Navy
Players Mentioned
Men's Lights Retain Murtaugh Cup With Navy Victory, Face Georgetown Sunday
March 26, 2016 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
Princeton won four of the five races, including the varsity eight race, to begin a back-to-back opening weekend on the road. The Tigers took in some of the Princeton-Navy baseball game Saturday afternoon before preparing Sunday's showdown with Georgetown for the Fosburgh Cup.
"For our first dual race of the year everyone was eager to get into it and so it's really good to come away with wins for 4 out of 5 boats," James Goble said. "At this stage of the season things are still coming together so we'll take the rough with the smooth. It's great to get an early win but there's a lot we can still improve on.
"The best thing about the team at the moment is the depth and internal competition with everyone fighting for their seats so we are all looking forward to pushing forward into the rest of the season and testing our speed against the rest of the league," he added.
The Tigers retained The Joseph Murtaugh Cup in 5:48.5, about six seconds faster than the top Navy boat. The 2V had a similar effort, winning by just over five seconds in 5:54.1. Every race of the morning was within eight seconds, including the lone Navy win; the Midshipmen 5V topped Princeton's 5V by only .8 of a second.
"All the crews have been putting in the training through the winter and on hard camps in Florida and Lake Carnegie and so it's great to finally get to put it all together in an actual race," Goble said. "When we come down to the Naval Academy, we know the guys we are racing against are going to be as tough as woodpecker lips, so to get a good result against those crews is a really positive start for our season. We're hoping to build on this weekend's experience and take it forward into a strong season of racing."
"I've given the guys a taller task this weekend with the back to back, but they showed me this morning they're up for it," seventh-year head coach Marty Crotty said. "It's always good to come away from Annapolis with the Murtaugh Cup. The competition is always stiff and the conditions sometimes create extra challenges. This morning was no different. Onto tomorrow."
Varsity Eight
Princeton 5:48.5
Navy 5:54.6
Second Varsity Eight
Princeton 5:54.1
Navy 5:59.4
Third Varsity Eight
Princeton 5:56.6
Navy 6:04.0
Fourth Varsity Eight
Princeton 5:57.4
Navy 6:03.3
Fifth Varsity Eight
Navy 6:11.5
Princeton 6:12.3