Unbeaten Heavyweights Head To Harvard, Battle For Second Straight Compton Cup On The Charles River

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LINKS: Live Video Stream l Compton Cup History l Highlights Of Childs Cup Win

Greg Hughes understands where his fifth-ranked Princeton heavyweights are in the process of the 2018 season. He has been pleased with the positive start, and he is encouraged by his team's determination to improve daily. He knows his team needs to be faster at IRAs than it is today, and that whatever happens Saturday won't make or break their postseason dreams.

With all that being said … Saturday is Harvard. And that's special.

"Racing is fun," said Hughes, who has seen his Princeton squad race out to a 6-0 start this season. "That's what we're in it for. It's an April race. Let's be ready to race hard in April. We're all building these teams, and it's fun to get a chance to compete. Let it fly. That's what is going to be really fun to watch. For the team, they're excited for it."

The varsity eight will race for the Compton Cup, which is up for grabs for the 91^st time in this historic series. Harvard, which leads the series with 63 wins, is the current custodian of the Cup after a four-second win last spring on Lake Carnegie. The Crimson has been especially tough to beat on the Charles River, where they have only lost to Princeton twice since 1957.

One of those times, however, was the last meeting, a 2016 race that Princeton won by 1.5 seconds. This Tiger crew, which would love nothing more than to build a little win streak in Boston, has fully bought in to the growth needed to be a special team, both this weekend and beyond.

"It's all part of the process of developing as a boat, and as a team," Hughes said. "You can prepare for it, but you need to get into that environment, you need to test yourself, and then dissect it afterwards. What did we do well, what do we need to improve? We've done that well so far this year. It's a testament to the team. It's about the marginal gains, that 1%; we're not looking for a massive gain, but just all the little things and small details. If everybody improves one thing by 1%, it has a huge impact on the whole team."

The whole team couldn't have asked for a better start, at least in the win-loss column. Princeton boats are 19-0 on the season, including a sweep of both Columbia and Penn last weekend in the Childs Cup regatta (see highlights of the 1V win in the link above).

"It's been a really solid start for the team as a group," Hughes said. "It's been very positive to see. With the Navy race, that was the first time in my time here as a coach when we went 5-for-5 against them. And then we had a good strong showing across the board at the Childs Cup."

Sixth-ranked Harvard (2-1) is coming off its first loss of the season, a Stein Cup road loss to a Brown squad that moved to #4 in the latest USRowing poll. Hughes doesn't waste much time worrying about other team's results, though.

"Each race is different," Hughes said. "One thing I never engage in is margins. A race is a race. We're going to race people who have raced other people, and I don't care. We'll face big opponents in these next few weeks, and we need to raise our level every single week. That has to be our goal."

Saturday's racing will be streamed live on the Ivy League Network (see link above). The order of racing is below.

#5 PRINCETON at #6 HARVARD • April 14, 2018
7:40 am • 3V
8:10 am • 2V
8:40 am • 1V - Compton Cup
9:00 am • 4V
9:20 am • 5V

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