Saturday, April 28
Princeton, N.J.
9:00 AM
Princeton University
vs
Brown (Content Cup)
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
Heavyweights Vie For Content Cup, Honor Senior Class, During Home Showdown With #4 Brown
April 25, 2018 | Heavyweight Rowing
Leo Toch and his senior classmates have experienced four years of the spring racing grind at Princeton, where challenges and obstacles provide a means for improvement as the postseason draws nearer. Those experiences certainly helped Toch shape his thoughts on two tough road losses to Top-5 competition recently.
"We learned two important lessons from our races against Harvard and Yale," he said. "Firstly, we were taught that simply wanting the victory was not enough - we had to execute the way we knew how and execute it properly. Secondly, we learned that execution is not exclusive of passion; a well-executed race plan is great, but nothing is more potent than a spontaneous push to get a seat against a boat with a half a seat up, regardless of the race plan.
"For all the seniors, coming down to our last home race, in the savage jungle of Lake Carnegie, I feel that we feel primed to combine execution with passion in our last collegiate battle on our own home turf," Toch added.
That last opportunity will feature yet another Top-5 opponent, as fourth-ranked Brown will meet the seventh-ranked Tigers Saturday at 9 am in the 25th edition of the Content Cup regatta. Naturally, this rivalry of two Eastern powers has been split down the middle (both teams have won 12 times), though Princeton has had the recent edge with four straight wins.
This is the highest-ranked Brown boat to visit Lake Carnegie over that stretch, though Toch didn't need to see a ranking to appreciate the kind of race he expects to see.
"We're fully committed to throwing ourselves into a hard workload this week in preparation for this weekend," he said. "I've traditionally viewed Brown more than any other Ivy League crew as an opponent most aligned with our racing mentality and style — go 100%, and earn the trust of every other member of your boat in the process. Each time we line up against Brown, on all levels, we know that as hard as we're going, they're going just as hard. So, a victory over a crew as tough and relentless as Brown would give us the momentum we want going into Sprints and IRA's, and give us our mojo back, baby."
Saturday's racing will begin at 9 am with a 5V dual, and it will continue with races every 15 minutes until the Content Cup is on the line at 10 am. The open women will follow with a regatta against both Wisconsin and Syracuse, also set for the Ivy League Network.
As Toch mentioned, Saturday will be the final home race for the Class of 2018, which currently has five seniors leading the 1V. He has never competed with a desire to do anything but win, but Toch knows that emotions will probably be just a bit higher this time around.
"As I mentioned earlier, racing for me is a combination of passion and execution, but for the seniors' final race on Lake Carnegie, each component is heightened," he said. "We know we can bring a fast, tight race to a fast, tough opponent this weekend, but coming out with our bowball in front would give us real momentum and satisfaction heading into postseason racing. And after an unbelievable past four years on Carnegie, it'd be an indelible capstone on home racing."
Princeton Heavyweight Men vs. Brown
9:00 AM - Fifth Varsity
9:15 AM - Fourth Varsity
9:30 AM - Third Varsity
9:45 AM - Second Varsity
10:00 AM - First Varsity - Content Cup
Princeton Open Women vs. Wisconsin & Syracuse
10:15 AM - First Varsity
10:30 AM - Second Varsity
10:45 AM - Varsity Fours
11:05 AM - Second Varsity Fours
11:25 AM - Third Varsity
"We learned two important lessons from our races against Harvard and Yale," he said. "Firstly, we were taught that simply wanting the victory was not enough - we had to execute the way we knew how and execute it properly. Secondly, we learned that execution is not exclusive of passion; a well-executed race plan is great, but nothing is more potent than a spontaneous push to get a seat against a boat with a half a seat up, regardless of the race plan.
"For all the seniors, coming down to our last home race, in the savage jungle of Lake Carnegie, I feel that we feel primed to combine execution with passion in our last collegiate battle on our own home turf," Toch added.
That last opportunity will feature yet another Top-5 opponent, as fourth-ranked Brown will meet the seventh-ranked Tigers Saturday at 9 am in the 25th edition of the Content Cup regatta. Naturally, this rivalry of two Eastern powers has been split down the middle (both teams have won 12 times), though Princeton has had the recent edge with four straight wins.
| WEEKEND LINKS: Live Video Stream l Content Cup History l National Poll |
This is the highest-ranked Brown boat to visit Lake Carnegie over that stretch, though Toch didn't need to see a ranking to appreciate the kind of race he expects to see.
"We're fully committed to throwing ourselves into a hard workload this week in preparation for this weekend," he said. "I've traditionally viewed Brown more than any other Ivy League crew as an opponent most aligned with our racing mentality and style — go 100%, and earn the trust of every other member of your boat in the process. Each time we line up against Brown, on all levels, we know that as hard as we're going, they're going just as hard. So, a victory over a crew as tough and relentless as Brown would give us the momentum we want going into Sprints and IRA's, and give us our mojo back, baby."
Saturday's racing will begin at 9 am with a 5V dual, and it will continue with races every 15 minutes until the Content Cup is on the line at 10 am. The open women will follow with a regatta against both Wisconsin and Syracuse, also set for the Ivy League Network.
As Toch mentioned, Saturday will be the final home race for the Class of 2018, which currently has five seniors leading the 1V. He has never competed with a desire to do anything but win, but Toch knows that emotions will probably be just a bit higher this time around.
"As I mentioned earlier, racing for me is a combination of passion and execution, but for the seniors' final race on Lake Carnegie, each component is heightened," he said. "We know we can bring a fast, tight race to a fast, tough opponent this weekend, but coming out with our bowball in front would give us real momentum and satisfaction heading into postseason racing. And after an unbelievable past four years on Carnegie, it'd be an indelible capstone on home racing."
Princeton Heavyweight Men vs. Brown
9:00 AM - Fifth Varsity
9:15 AM - Fourth Varsity
9:30 AM - Third Varsity
9:45 AM - Second Varsity
10:00 AM - First Varsity - Content Cup
Princeton Open Women vs. Wisconsin & Syracuse
10:15 AM - First Varsity
10:30 AM - Second Varsity
10:45 AM - Varsity Fours
11:05 AM - Second Varsity Fours
11:25 AM - Third Varsity
Players Mentioned
/ Heavyweight Rowing
Princeton Athletics 2023-24 Highlights
Tuesday, June 04
Highlights from 2022 Gary Walters ’67 PVC Awards Banquet
Wednesday, June 22
Princeton Athletics 2021-22 Highlights
Monday, June 06
Spring 2022 PNC Student-Athlete Achiever Award Recipients
Tuesday, April 26