Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Eisenberg Cup: Yale w/ USC
Players Mentioned
Ninth-Ranked Open Women Upset #5 Yale, Top #11 USC To Retain Eisenberg Cup
April 16, 2016 | Women's Rowing - Open
Senior Meghan Wheeler has been an Ivy League champion and an All-America honoree already in her career, and she'd love nothing more than the dream finish for her Princeton career. That goal took a big step forward Saturday morning, as the ninth-ranked Tiger open crew defeated No. 5 Yale and No. 11 USC to retain the Eisenberg Cup on Lake Carnegie.
"Being able to have our last races on Carnegie is really special," Wheeler said. "Having spent so many hours on this course really makes it feel like home, and we are really excited to lay it all out here for the next two weeks.
"We were pretty happy with the race today," she added. "It was nice to retain the Eisenberg Cup and to have a pretty solid overall team performance. Yale and USC are great competitors so we knew it was going to be a burnburner. Being able to put together a good piece on race day was important, so it was encouraging that we were able to do so."
The Tigers moved to 5-2 on the season by winning in 6:29.6, 3.5 seconds faster than both Yale and USC — which finished in a dead heat, even after a video review. Princeton has won five straight races following the season opener, when it stayed within three seconds of both No. 1 Brown and No. 3 Ohio State.
Princeton won two of four races on the morning. Besides the varsity, the third varsity picked up a win in 7:02.3, more than nine seconds faster than Yale. The Bulldogs won both the 2V and the V4; Princeton finished three seconds back of Yale in the second varsity, while the Tigers took third in the V4 by about nine seconds.
Princeton improves its all-time lead in the Eisenberg Cup series to 31-11 and has now won each of the last seven meetings, though most have been highly competitive. This win should also send a surge of confidence into the Tiger women, who will race twice more on Lake Carnegie before turning their attention to the postseason.
"This result was a good step forward as we look to Ivies and qualifying for nationals," Wheeler said. "Yale and USC are some of the fastest teams in the country, so it is good to know we are in the mix with them. There is definitely still work to do, so we are going to keep pushing ourselves over these next few weeks."
Varsity Eight
Princeton 6:29.6
Yale (tie) 6:33.1
USC (tie) 6:33.1
Second Varsity Eight
Yale 6:45.8
Princeton 6:48.9
USC 7:02.1
Varsity Four
Yale A 7:42.3
USC A 7:49.2
Princeton A 7:51.9
Princeton B 8:39.6
Third Varsity Eight
Princeton 7:02.3
Yale 7:11.4