Princeton University
Ivy League Championships
Players Mentioned
Tiger Women Stun Top-Ranked Brown To Reclaim Ivy League Championship!
May 15, 2016 | Women's Rowing - Open
And then Princeton made a move more dramatic than either of those.
The ninth-ranked Tiger women used a brilliant start and a gutsy, tough surge over the second half of the race to bring the Ivy League championship back to Princeton for the fourth time in six years.
"We know we can have a fast start at times, but we definitely don't rely on it to win the race," senior Meghan Wheeler said after being part of her second Ivy League championship eight. "We hoped we could put things together and get out in front of the pack and from there it was all about laying down a really solid base."
It was the climactic end to a wild 48 hours, when the wind projections caused one change after another to the championship event. First the venue changed, then the racing times. It could have disrupted the momentum of a Princeton boat that had won nine straight races since a season-opening loss to Brown.
Clearly, that didn't happen.
"There were a lot of schedule changes and logistics to figure out, but I think we were able to keep calm and unfazed the entire time," Wheeler said. "It's not hard to remain focused when all you have to do is race your hardest and give it your all, and that's what we did. Racing on Carnegie was really special, especially since we have had so many home races this season. It was the perfect end to a senior year. To have all our hard work this whole year pay off like this is the best feeling."
That feeling began off the start, when Princeton established a lead over a Brown boat that had earned the No. 1 ranking in the latest USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association. Princeton, which had lost to Brown by about three seconds in that opening race seven weeks earlier, established a lead fairly quickly and got out to about a length by the midway point.
As you would expect, Brown challenged hard over the final 1000, but Princeton answered each time. While the start may have what established her final title victory, it was the finish that Wheeler will remember forever.
"Those final strokes were really special," she said. "Until we crossed the line I was thinking about not catching a crab and just holding on until the final strokes, but there was a creeping feeling that we had done it. To have those strokes on Carnegie was really amazing."
Classmate Erin Reelick is the only member of the Princeton Class of 2016 who has rowed in all three Ivy League championship eights over the last four years (2013, 2014, 2016), and she is one of only two Tiger women to be in three championship boats this century.
The other? Her older sister, Kelsey (2011, 2013, 2014).
"It was awesome to be able to host the championship on Carnegie," Erin Reelick said. "Being able to have one more home regatta was really special to the seniors. The changes in schedule did cause a little uneasiness, as I am sure it did with all the teams, but I am really proud of how all the open women handled it.
"Knowing that this was our final race on Carnegie definitely made the win more special; putting the Ivy title on top of that, I could not be more happy," she added.
Veteran head coach Lori Dauphiny, a former National Head Coach of the Year, witnessed the improvement within her varsity boat. She truly believed it was ready to challenge Brown, but she never expected the race to unfold as it did.
"I remember talking in our discussion before their launch that this will be tight," she said. "I told them to expect to be down, expect to be up, just expect tight margins. When you looked at the results this season, it looked like a tight race. Brown made a push in the second half, but Princeton was able to hold. That was exciting to see."
Princeton claimed its 13th Ivy League championship with the win, and it had top-two finishes in each of the top four races. The Tiger 2V flipped a result from last month by beating Yale for second in its final, and Princeton came within a second of knocking off Brown. The varsity four edged Brown by less than two tenths of a second to claim silver in the V4A, while the V4B took silver by more than three seconds over Harvard.
"The coaches were super excited about the results," Dauphiny said. "We feel like that was an exceptional performance by the whole team. Those close finishes were critical. The boats heading to NCAAs should take a lot of confidence from today, and the developmental boats all did a great job. It was a really exciting day."
Dauphiny and her Princeton squad can now relax during this week's NCAA Selection Show, as the Tigers earned the automatic bid to compete at the 2016 NCAA Championships in two weeks. Princeton is one of three teams (Brown, California) to have competed in every NCAA Championships since the inaugural regatta in 1997.
The NCAA Championships will be held on Lake Natoma at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center in Gold River, Calif., from May 27-29. Unlike the Ivy League championship, the NCAA championship is awarded to the team with the best combined finish of the V8, 2V8 and V4. The varsity eight is still the highlight race of the event, and Princeton won gold in that race in both 2006 and 2011.
VARSITY EIGHT - IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Princeton 6:28.039
2. Brown 6:31.588
3. Yale 6:41.745
4. Penn 6:50.281
1. Brown 6:31.877
2. Princeton 6:32.766
3. Yale 6:37.392
4. Harvard-Radcliffe 7:00.39
VARSITY FOUR GRAND FINAL
1. Yale 7:26.633
2. Princeton 7:28.728
3. Brown 7:28.843
4. Harvard 7:36.609
VARSITY FOUR B GRAND FINAL
1. Brown 7:32.869
2. Princeton 7:34.652
3. Harvard-Radcliffe 7:37.326
4. Columbia 7:58.479
THIRD VARSITY EIGHT GRAND FINAL
1. Yale 6:57.461
2. Brown 7:02.948
3. Princeton 7:08.154
4. Harvard-Radcliffe (4V) 7:45.720
VARSITY FOUR C PETITE FINAL
1. Penn 7:45.842
2. Cornell 7:49.509
3. Dartmouth (B) 8:02.989
4. Princeton 8:15.264
5. Dartmouth (C ) 8:30.623
TEAM POINTS
1. Brown 83
2. Princeton 80
3. Yale 65
4. Harvard-Radcliffe 50
5. Penn 46
6. Dartmouth 28
7. Columbia 24
8. Cornell 22
PRINCETON BOATINGS
First Varsity Eight: (c) Amanda Rutherford, (s) Erin Reelick, (7) Georgie Howe, (6) Claire Collins, (5) Emily Kallfelz, (4) Dagmara Lapins, (3) Isabella Nappa, (2) Meghan Wheeler, (b) Brett Simpson
Second Varsity Eight: (c) Emily Erdos, (s) Annelies Paine, (7) Catherine Babiec, (6) Mary Ann McNulty, (5) Ciara Nutter, (4) Erica Swartwout, (3) Melissa Curtis, (2) Rachel Reed, (b) Lauren Barnard
Varsity Four: (c) Katherine Elfers, (s) Jantien Shizuru, (3) Charlotte Moss, (2) Eliott Sawyer, (b) Anna Kalfaian
Varsity Four B: (c) Kristen Albrecht, (s) Diana Kenealy, (3) Hannah Paynter, (2) Riley MacAuley, (b) Emily Wiebe
Varsity Four C: (c) Amber Altaf, (s) Celeste Akiti, (3) Ellie Maag, (2) Rebecca Blevins, (1) Nicole Neville
Third Varsity Eight: (c) Shuying Cheng, (s) Kelly Bojic, (7) Greta Miller, (6) Sadie McGirr, (5) Charlotte McMeekin, (4) Zoe Sudduth, (3) Emily Bender, (2) Sophia Bhalla, (b) Katherine O'Malley