Brilliant Sprint Earns Princeton The Platt Cup, The Harriet Trophy, And The Carnegie Course Record

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With the Platt Cup 500 meters away, and the reigning IRA champion Cornell Big Red right next to them, the Princeton lightweight men made a charge that should command plenty of attention, both now and as the Tigers head towards the postseason. A stunning final sprint turned a nailbiter into a one-length win, and it gave Princeton both the Platt Cup and the Lake Carnegie course record.

Princeton, which also won the Harriet Trophy for team points (see photo above), broke a six-year record on Lake Carnegie by taking the win in 5:34.5, which beat the previous record of 5:37, set by the 2012 national champion Harvard 1V. The third-ranked Tigers moved to 6-1 with the win, but it was the way they won that mattered much more.

"It was a barn-burner of a race all the way down the course, and we went in expecting exactly that," junior Danny Hogan said. "With wicked fast conditions and many lead changes, the race could have quickly devolved into a high rate slug fest, but Sydney Edwards, our coxswain, did a fantastic job keeping us internal and composed through the hectic back and forth that makes dual racing so exciting. Moving into the last 500, my boat mates and I responded to Sydney's calls together with the power that we have been harvesting all year. Each week, Marty asks us to race as we have trained, and today, we did a great job pushing not as nine individuals, but as one crew."

As you can see in the highlights, both boats were together for much of the race, but the move Princeton had coming has come from a dedicated work ethic and a determination to grow from a tight loss to Columbia two weeks ago.

"Practice doesn't make things perfect, it makes things permanent," Hogan said. "I think one thing we have done great since our tough Columbia loss is taking this idea to heart and ensuring that just going through the motions is not enough. We have to continue to improve each week, continue to sharpen our technical changes, and continue to make these improvements together in order to take advantage of every training session."

"A race like today definitely helps our confidence moving into the latter half of the season and demonstrates our growing maturity as a crew," he added. "We know we can push together and maintain composure in high pressure racing. Now we need to continue to improve these skills and keep pushing ourselves each day."

Racing was tight throughout the morning between two tradition-rich programs. Cornell won the 2V and 3V races by a combined total of 2.7 seconds, while the Princeton 4V earned a win by 4.4 seconds. It was that 4V victory that helped return the Harriet Trophy to the Shea Rowing Center, as it was the second win Princeton needed (with a 2-2 split, the 1V win was the tiebreaker for Princeton).

"This has become one of the more enjoyable (Read: heart-stopping) regattas year to year," head coach Marty Crotty said. "The racing is incredibly competitive. I mean, the fact that the first varsity had to go out and set a course record just to win a close one tells you something."

Princeton will close a three-race homestand next Saturday when it takes on seventh-ranked Penn for the Wood-Hammond Trophy at 10:20 am. That will also be the final race for the Class of 2018, a group that can take great pride in knowing that the Platt Cup and Harriet Trophy will both be in their boathouse when they graduate.

Varsity Eight
Princeton 5:34.5
Cornell 5:37.6

Second Varsity Eight
Cornell 5:44.6
Princeton 5:48.3

Third Varsity Eight
Cornell 5:48.0
Princeton 5:49.1

Fourth Varsity Eight
Princeton 5:58.0
Cornell 6:02.4

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