Lightweight Men Travel For Two Cup Races, Open Season vs Navy/Georgetown

Saturday, March 24

Annapolis, Md.

7:00 AM

Princeton University

Navy (The Murtaugh Cup)

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Lightweight Men Travel For Two Cup Races, Open Season vs Navy/Georgetown

March 21, 2018 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight

The Princeton men's lightweight rowing team will travel for a pair of Cup races to open its season this weekend, which provides the team two immediate opportunities to get a sense of where it stands early in 2018.

The Tigers will open their season in Annapolis Saturday at 7 am against Navy in the annual Murtaugh Cup regatta, and then will make the short trip to Washington, D.C., to take on Georgetown in the Fosburgh Cup regatta, which is scheduled to start at 5:30 pm. The racing schedule for both events is listed at the end of this article.

NOTE – All parents/fans planning to attend the Navy race should download this document for information about the event.

Princeton has won eight of the last 10 Murtaugh Cup races, though it will be Navy that enters Saturday with possession of the trophy. The Midshipmen topped Princeton by 3.6 seconds in the season opener, earning its first win in the series since the inaugural Murtaugh Cup race in 2008.

Princeton has won five straight Fosburgh Cups over Georgetown, including a narrow win at Lake Carnegie last season. The Tigers took that race by 2.5 seconds to complete the first time Princeton raced for both the Murtaugh and Fosburgh Cups on the same day.

There is plenty for head coach Marty Crotty to be excited about early during the 2018 season, though a big part of that anticipation is the potential for this squad over the course of the spring. A strong freshman class has fused with a deep group of returners, which allows Crotty a chance to experiment with several lineups and build what could be a contender for both the Ivy/IRA titles, as well as the Jope Cup crown at Eastern Sprints.

Senior Patrick Watt showed tremendous growth last season, moving from the 3V in 2016 to a spot in the 1V, and he serves as the captain for the upcoming season. His leadership, as well as the program depth, was evident when he stroked the Princeton 2V to a sixth-place finish at the Head of the Charles last spring, an effort that topped several strong 1V boats, as well as all 2Vs in the field.

That performance may have gone slightly overlooked, though, because of what the Tiger 1V did. That Princeton boat, which featured freshman at both the stroke (David Slear) and coxswain (Sydney Edwards) seats, topped the field by more than 10 seconds to win the 2017 Head of the Charles. The boat featured multiple rowers from all four classes, a testament to the depth throughout all four Princeton classes.

Princeton will compete three times at home this season, starting with a Dartmouth and Delaware race on April 7. The Tigers will take on reigning IRA champion Cornell for the Platt Cup April 14, and then will face IRA runner-up Penn the following Saturday for the Wood-Hammond Trophy. All three races will be streamed live on the Ivy League Network.

Below is the racing schedule for the upcoming weekend.

Princeton at Navy
7:20 am • 1^st Varsity (Murtaugh Cup)
7:40 am • 2^nd Varsity
8 am • 3^rd Varsity
8:20 am • 4^th Varsity
8:40 am • 5^th/6^th Varsity

Princeton at Georgetown
5:30 pm • 3^rd/4^th Varsity
5:50 pm • 2^nd Varsity
6:10 pm • 1^st Varsity (Fosburgh Cup)