Princeton Handles Tough Carnegie Conditions, Earns Strong Wins Over Notre Dame, Columbia

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Senior co-captain Rachel Reed may still be making a connection with her teammates inside the Princeton 2V this season, but there is no questioning the connection that the majority of that boat has off the water. Reed was one six members of the Princeton Class of 2018 who rowed to victory in the Tiger 2V Saturday morning on Lake Carnegie, one of five Princeton winners during a perfect home regatta against both Columbia and Notre Dame.

The fourth-ranked Princeton varsity eight improved to 4-0 on the season with a dominant effort on fairly choppy Lake Carnegie waters. The Tigers, who defeated both #5 Michigan and #8 Brown in the season opener last weekend, grabbed an open water lead by the 500 mark and never let go of control. Princeton defeated Notre Dame by more than 18 seconds to stay unbeaten on the young season, and its win over Columbia earned the Tigers the Hewitt & Dauphiny Cup. You can see highlights of the NCAA boats by clicking the play link above.

The Tiger 2V split its opening weekend, but it showed impressive growth Saturday with an open water win. The Fighting Irish 2V battled back from a big early deficit and made a move over the third quarter of the race, but Princeton responded the way you'd expect veterans would over the final 500 meters of its home course.

"The winds were pretty variable throughout the morning, but we've gotten much better at handling tough conditions both physically and mentally over the last few weeks," Reed said. "Notre Dame never left the corner of my eye and they had a super solid middle 1K, but we had a good push into the last 500 and a solid sprint to stay ahead. Sprinting is something that we are always working on improving and today we were able to stay together and continually bring the speed up towards the end."

The win had to feel especially good for the six senior members of the 2V — Melissa Curtis (8), Reed (7), Isabella Nappa (5), Ciara Nutter (4), Erica Swartwout (3), and co-captain Riley MacAulay — who know they are in their final spring of racing together on Lake Carnegie.

"It's really special to have six seniors in the boat right now," Reed said. "We all are really focused and know what it's going to take to achieve the goals we've set as a team. After nearly four years rowing with these girls, it gives me a lot of confidence knowing that these are the people I'm on the line with. We've worked really hard this year and I'm so excited to finally be racing and putting it all together."

The varsity four got the biggest push from Notre Dame, but it got the regatta off to a winning start by topping Notre Dame by 3.6 seconds in the first race of the day. The Tigers dealt with arguably the toughest conditions, as the wind diminished over the morning, but they managed a victory in 7:56.5. The Princeton V4B, which included a trio of freshmen for the second straight week, followed up its season-opening win by topping Notre Dame by 5.4 seconds. The third varsity eight concluded the meet with a convincing win over Columbia.

Princeton will remain home next weekend and serve as host of the 2018 Ivy League Invitational, a new event that will bring seven Ivy programs (Brown will not compete) for a series of dual races during a full day on Lake Carnegie. There will be competition in both the morning and afternoon for all programs; Princeton will race Cornell and Harvard for the Class of 1975 Cup at 11 in the morning, and it will take on Penn and Dartmouth for the Class of 1984 Plaque in the afternoon. The regatta will be streamed live on the Ivy League Network.

Varsity Eight
Princeton 6:57.1
Notre Dame 7:15.9
Columbia 7:21.4

Second Varsity Eight
Princeton 6:57.4
Notre Dame 7:05.9
Columbia 7:15.4

Varsity Four
Princeton 7:56.5
Notre Dame 8:00.1
Columbia 8:05.3

Varsity Four B/C
Princeton V4B 7:48.6
Notre Dame 7:54.0
Princeton V4C 8:57.8

Third Varsity Eight
Princeton 7:12.9
Columbia 7:38.0

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