Saturday, April 1
Princeton, N.J.
10:15 AM
Princeton University
vs
Columbia (The Campbell Cup)
Lightweights Overcome Restart, Top Reigning IRA Champ Columbia In Impressive Fashion
April 01, 2017 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
Blake Lange felt good. His boat was off to a fast start — almost a length lead nearing the 500-mark — when a brutal wave took his oar and left the upset-minded Princeton lightweights unable to continue against the reigning IRA champion Columbia Lions.
If at first you don't succeed …
"Unfortunately I got bullied by a rogue wave just before the 500-meter mark, at which point we had already stretched a one length lead, and my blade got sucked in before I could stop it," said Lange after Princeton took advantage of its second chance (see highlights) and capped off a perfect morning over Columbia. "The timing was pretty perfect, though, as we called breakage and were granted a restart. Greg Hughes and Steve Hujber were the saviors as they brought a fresh backstay for my rigger to the infamous Jim Millar's dock and we set off for the restart with only a minor hiccup. Mentally, I think we did a great job of staying focused and knowing we could repeat the same dominant start that we achieved in Round One."
That confidence — coming against a Columbia boat that had won 12 of 13 over Princeton, including postseason finals, entering Saturday — proved to be well-founded, as the Tigers again found their strong start and raced away from the Lions. Princeton, coming off a split during its opening weekend, was able to build off the early speed with a late sprint that ended any Columbia hopes of a comeback.
"Round two we managed to dodge the unpredictable blows of Mother Nature," he said "We really sunk our teeth into a race speed that was consistently better than theirs, and yes, it was an improvement over the relatively sluggish pace we had against the Naval Academy. It felt fantastic to prove that today the Lions were not the kings of the Carnegie jungle, and boy was it "jungle rules" out there, to regurgitate a [Marty] Crotty euphemism."
While the 1V will receive the most attention for the win, the full Princeton team had a banner day on the water. The Tiger 2V moved to 3-0 with a 3.6-second win over Columbia, while the 3V, 4V, and 5V all finished ahead of the Lions 3V in the first race of the regatta. Head coach Marty Crotty believes that their successes go far beyond that morning, though.
"The guys in the lower boats were critical this week in shaping that Campbell Cup win," Crotty said. "They've shown great resilience and resolve and have challenged the first varsity in a way that I haven't seen in my first 16 years as a coach. Their efforts in practice force the 1V to be on point and find a way to be better."
The 1V won the inaugural Campbell Cup, which was introduced during the offseason and assures this series will remain an annual rivalry. While the excitement of both winning the Cup and knocking off the national champion made for a thrilling Saturday, Lange understands that there is plenty of season still ahead of them.
"Early victories are convenient, but always carry the risk of overconfidence," he said. "It's important to hit the deck Monday with no ego and get right back towards our internal improvement milestones. The Columbia dual was actually only our second row in that lineup, so we are all extremely excited to see what else we can do in the coming weeks. If I had to describe our attitude coming out of the post-win huddle in one word, I would say determined. Not enough time in the season to be wasting days on the euphoria of a big victory in the inaugural Campbell Cup race."
Princeton will race for the final time on Lake Carnegie next Saturday when it takes on Dartmouth and Delaware; the regatta will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
Varsity Eight
Princeton 6:30.2
Columbia 6:35.2
Second Varsity Eight
Princeton 6:23.5
Columbia 6:27.1
Third/Fourth/Fifth Varsity Eight
Princeton 3V 6:46.3
Princeton 4V 6:50.6
Princeton 5V 7:04.4
Columbia 3V 7:08.9
If at first you don't succeed …
"Unfortunately I got bullied by a rogue wave just before the 500-meter mark, at which point we had already stretched a one length lead, and my blade got sucked in before I could stop it," said Lange after Princeton took advantage of its second chance (see highlights) and capped off a perfect morning over Columbia. "The timing was pretty perfect, though, as we called breakage and were granted a restart. Greg Hughes and Steve Hujber were the saviors as they brought a fresh backstay for my rigger to the infamous Jim Millar's dock and we set off for the restart with only a minor hiccup. Mentally, I think we did a great job of staying focused and knowing we could repeat the same dominant start that we achieved in Round One."
That confidence — coming against a Columbia boat that had won 12 of 13 over Princeton, including postseason finals, entering Saturday — proved to be well-founded, as the Tigers again found their strong start and raced away from the Lions. Princeton, coming off a split during its opening weekend, was able to build off the early speed with a late sprint that ended any Columbia hopes of a comeback.
"Round two we managed to dodge the unpredictable blows of Mother Nature," he said "We really sunk our teeth into a race speed that was consistently better than theirs, and yes, it was an improvement over the relatively sluggish pace we had against the Naval Academy. It felt fantastic to prove that today the Lions were not the kings of the Carnegie jungle, and boy was it "jungle rules" out there, to regurgitate a [Marty] Crotty euphemism."
While the 1V will receive the most attention for the win, the full Princeton team had a banner day on the water. The Tiger 2V moved to 3-0 with a 3.6-second win over Columbia, while the 3V, 4V, and 5V all finished ahead of the Lions 3V in the first race of the regatta. Head coach Marty Crotty believes that their successes go far beyond that morning, though.
"The guys in the lower boats were critical this week in shaping that Campbell Cup win," Crotty said. "They've shown great resilience and resolve and have challenged the first varsity in a way that I haven't seen in my first 16 years as a coach. Their efforts in practice force the 1V to be on point and find a way to be better."
The 1V won the inaugural Campbell Cup, which was introduced during the offseason and assures this series will remain an annual rivalry. While the excitement of both winning the Cup and knocking off the national champion made for a thrilling Saturday, Lange understands that there is plenty of season still ahead of them.
"Early victories are convenient, but always carry the risk of overconfidence," he said. "It's important to hit the deck Monday with no ego and get right back towards our internal improvement milestones. The Columbia dual was actually only our second row in that lineup, so we are all extremely excited to see what else we can do in the coming weeks. If I had to describe our attitude coming out of the post-win huddle in one word, I would say determined. Not enough time in the season to be wasting days on the euphoria of a big victory in the inaugural Campbell Cup race."
Princeton will race for the final time on Lake Carnegie next Saturday when it takes on Dartmouth and Delaware; the regatta will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
Varsity Eight
Princeton 6:30.2
Columbia 6:35.2
Second Varsity Eight
Princeton 6:23.5
Columbia 6:27.1
Third/Fourth/Fifth Varsity Eight
Princeton 3V 6:46.3
Princeton 4V 6:50.6
Princeton 5V 7:04.4
Columbia 3V 7:08.9
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Rowing - Lightweight
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