Lightweight Women Look To Break From Tight Eastern Pack, Return To Medal Dock At Eastern Sprints

Senior Megan Mirabella and the women's lightweight rowing team experienced significant postseason success last year, winning medals at both Sprints and IRAs for the first time since 2011. Repeating that success might seem like likely goals, but this Princeton squad has sights set even higher.

After taking bronze at both Sprints and IRAs last year, Princeton will try to move up on the medal podium this postseason, which opens Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. The Tigers, ranked fourth in the latest USRowing national poll, knows it is right there with the rest of the Eastern field, and they are doing everything possible to find that extra bit of speed that could make a golden difference.

WEEKEND LINKS: National Poll l Eastern Sprints History

"Our recent race results have been really tight with the Eastern boats, which is exciting," said Mirabella, the four-year coxswain for the Princeton 1V8. "But the past two weeks we've had a number of "winnable" pieces, meaning ones in which we could have done something differently or better to change the outcome, that we did not win. With full respect to our competitors, who fought great races and deserved their results, I think we are absolutely just as fast as them, as the tight margins can attest."

"So the focus this week is on practicing owning each condition of our racing that can swing those tight margins in our favor," she added. "With a league this fast and margins this small, it's not enough to out-race Georgetown or BU. We have to out-do them in technique, in rhythm, in cohesiveness, and in heart, and we have to do that every stroke. And I fully believe us to be capable of doing so. So that's what we're focusing on and practicing this week: taking ownership of each of the small factors that will make us more efficient, effective, and as a result faster than our competitors. And if the enthusiasm and attitude we brought to Monday's practice is any indication, this looks to be a week in which we accomplish just that."

The Princeton 1V has earned a total of 17 medals at Eastern Sprints, but as the field has deepened and the speed has improved, the challenges of earning a top-three finish have grown tougher. Princeton's last Sprints gold came in 2011, a year where the Tigers nearly stunned Stanford in a thrilling national final. The last silver medal came in 2013, a boat led by current Tiger assistant coach Alex Morss '13. Head coach Paul Rassam has pushed the right buttons with a boat that blends both experience and youthful talent, and he knows it will take both to navigate past a loaded field.

Sprints could have the same type of finish, especially if you look at the Knecht Cup final from two weeks earlier. While Stanford has held the top spot in the USRowing national poll all season, the next four teams on the list are Boston University, Wisconsin, Princeton, and Georgetown, and those four programs all finished within 4.1 seconds of each other. It's possible that none of the four could lose contact with any other over the final 500, and one would still be left without a medal.

Princeton will also race a varsity four and a double, the latter of which is unbeaten on the season, and then a third varsity eight.

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