Princeton University Athletics
Sunday, May 14
Pennsauken, N.J.
TBA
Princeton University
vs
Ivy League Championships
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
'Resilient' Tigers Ready For Major Challenges At Ivy Championships
May 12, 2017 | Women's Rowing - Open
KEY LINKS: Live Video l Seeding Poll l Princeton History At Ivy/EAWRC Championships
Georgie Howe has experienced plenty at the Ivy League Championships throughout her career. This Sunday, she is hoping for one more — the experience of one final gold medal finish to cap her Ivy career.
Howe and fellow co-captain Catherine Babiec will lead the seventh-ranked Princeton open rowing team to Cooper River this weekend to compete for the 2017 Ivy League Championships. The full regatta will be held Sunday, May 14, and will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
While the NCAA Championships are decided by a combined finish of the 1V, 2V, and V4, the Ivy League title still goes to the winner of the varsity eight competition. Princeton will be the top seed in that field following an 11-0 regular season, but the Tigers are well aware that past results won't mean anything when the oars hit Cooper River Sunday.
What will matter, though, are the daily training efforts and Saturday races that have developed this Princeton boat.
"This year has been a bit unique because we've had a little bit more time on the water," Howe said. "My sophomore year, we didn't get on the water until mid-March, but this year we snuck on the water in February, so we were able to chip away at development even earlier. We've made really good strides this year. Each race has been a step forward, another step forward, and we've worked on not taking any steps back. You'll have setbacks in a season, there are ebbs and flows, but I think we've built up good momentum the last few weeks.
"As a team, we're pretty resilient with where we race, how we race, when we race," Howe added. "We can be thrown into any situation, and we'll respond well. You want to go out there and leave nothing on the water. We raced our race and managed to come out on top."
Howe and the Tigers demonstrated that quality last year, when weather patterns forced significant changes in the Ivy League schedule. The race moved from Mercer Lake to Lake Carnegie, and then turned into a Sunday morning four-boat showdown. The Tigers upset top-ranked Brown to win their Ivy-best 15th title.
Howe was in that boat, and she was a freshman when Princeton won its 14th title during the 2014 Championships. She is now a senior in a 1V that has been powered by a pair of talented freshmen that she is excited to see perform this Sunday.
"Emerson [Solms] and Hadley [Irwin], they're great freshmen," Howe said. "They're a bit more clued in than I was in that [2014] boat, which had five or six seniors. I just kept my head down and did what I did was told. The team culture has evolved to the point that freshmen can be heard, and their opinions count. They've actually stepped into a leadership role. They know what the game is, and I'm really excited to race with them."
Without question, the full boat will need to be prepared for a terrific showdown when the 1V grand final is held at 4:30 pm Sunday. While Princeton was unbeaten this season, its margin over Yale was only 1.2 seconds, and it was only 2.4 over Brown in a regatta held more than six weeks ago. While Princeton believes it has gotten faster, it certainly knows that the rest of the field has as well.
Because of that, Howe feels especially lucky to have experience in the coxswain seat.
"We, as rowers, are cogs on the wheel," she said. "Amanda [Rutherford] is our eyes, and she's brilliant in a six-boat race. She's really clued in, the most canny of them all. She tells us where we are, and we just have to stick in and race. If needed, she'll throw in an extra move here or there to put us in a better position. We have to be ready to respond, and our fitness is such that we can do whatever we need to do. We just need to keep internal, keep relaxed and race our own race."
Both the 2V and the V4 will be the seeded second behind Yale in their respective events. Those fields should be very competitive between the top three; Yale posted similar winning margins in both races to the one Princeton posted in the 1V, while the Tigers defeated Brown in the 2V and V4 by less than three seconds apiece.
The 2V final is scheduled to be held at 4 pm, while the V4A final will be at 3:30 pm. The full schedule can be found below.
Varsity Eight
Heats: 8, 8:10 am; Grand Final: 4:30 pm
Second Varsity Eight
Heats: 8:20, 8:30 am; Grand Final: 4 pm
Varsity Four
Heats: 8:40, 8:50 am; Grand Final: 3:30 pm
Varsity Four B
Heats: 9, 9:10 am; Grand Final: 2:45 pm
Third Varsity Eight
Grand Final: 2 pm
Varsity Four C
Grand Final: 2:15 pm
Georgie Howe has experienced plenty at the Ivy League Championships throughout her career. This Sunday, she is hoping for one more — the experience of one final gold medal finish to cap her Ivy career.
Howe and fellow co-captain Catherine Babiec will lead the seventh-ranked Princeton open rowing team to Cooper River this weekend to compete for the 2017 Ivy League Championships. The full regatta will be held Sunday, May 14, and will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
While the NCAA Championships are decided by a combined finish of the 1V, 2V, and V4, the Ivy League title still goes to the winner of the varsity eight competition. Princeton will be the top seed in that field following an 11-0 regular season, but the Tigers are well aware that past results won't mean anything when the oars hit Cooper River Sunday.
What will matter, though, are the daily training efforts and Saturday races that have developed this Princeton boat.
"This year has been a bit unique because we've had a little bit more time on the water," Howe said. "My sophomore year, we didn't get on the water until mid-March, but this year we snuck on the water in February, so we were able to chip away at development even earlier. We've made really good strides this year. Each race has been a step forward, another step forward, and we've worked on not taking any steps back. You'll have setbacks in a season, there are ebbs and flows, but I think we've built up good momentum the last few weeks.
"As a team, we're pretty resilient with where we race, how we race, when we race," Howe added. "We can be thrown into any situation, and we'll respond well. You want to go out there and leave nothing on the water. We raced our race and managed to come out on top."
| Hear more from Georgie Howe on the latest edition of TigerCast. |
Howe and the Tigers demonstrated that quality last year, when weather patterns forced significant changes in the Ivy League schedule. The race moved from Mercer Lake to Lake Carnegie, and then turned into a Sunday morning four-boat showdown. The Tigers upset top-ranked Brown to win their Ivy-best 15th title.
Howe was in that boat, and she was a freshman when Princeton won its 14th title during the 2014 Championships. She is now a senior in a 1V that has been powered by a pair of talented freshmen that she is excited to see perform this Sunday.
"Emerson [Solms] and Hadley [Irwin], they're great freshmen," Howe said. "They're a bit more clued in than I was in that [2014] boat, which had five or six seniors. I just kept my head down and did what I did was told. The team culture has evolved to the point that freshmen can be heard, and their opinions count. They've actually stepped into a leadership role. They know what the game is, and I'm really excited to race with them."
Without question, the full boat will need to be prepared for a terrific showdown when the 1V grand final is held at 4:30 pm Sunday. While Princeton was unbeaten this season, its margin over Yale was only 1.2 seconds, and it was only 2.4 over Brown in a regatta held more than six weeks ago. While Princeton believes it has gotten faster, it certainly knows that the rest of the field has as well.
Because of that, Howe feels especially lucky to have experience in the coxswain seat.
"We, as rowers, are cogs on the wheel," she said. "Amanda [Rutherford] is our eyes, and she's brilliant in a six-boat race. She's really clued in, the most canny of them all. She tells us where we are, and we just have to stick in and race. If needed, she'll throw in an extra move here or there to put us in a better position. We have to be ready to respond, and our fitness is such that we can do whatever we need to do. We just need to keep internal, keep relaxed and race our own race."
Both the 2V and the V4 will be the seeded second behind Yale in their respective events. Those fields should be very competitive between the top three; Yale posted similar winning margins in both races to the one Princeton posted in the 1V, while the Tigers defeated Brown in the 2V and V4 by less than three seconds apiece.
The 2V final is scheduled to be held at 4 pm, while the V4A final will be at 3:30 pm. The full schedule can be found below.
Varsity Eight
Heats: 8, 8:10 am; Grand Final: 4:30 pm
Second Varsity Eight
Heats: 8:20, 8:30 am; Grand Final: 4 pm
Varsity Four
Heats: 8:40, 8:50 am; Grand Final: 3:30 pm
Varsity Four B
Heats: 9, 9:10 am; Grand Final: 2:45 pm
Third Varsity Eight
Grand Final: 2 pm
Varsity Four C
Grand Final: 2:15 pm
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Rowing - Open
/ Women's Rowing - Open
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