Heavyweights Win Four Medals, Finish Second In Team Race; 1V Places 4th In Wild Sprints Finale

Calendar

No Upcoming Events

Every Princeton heavyweight boat may not have left Sprints with the same result, but they all did leave with one similar feeling — they've already made big progress with three weeks remaining until the IRA national championships.

And that alone left head coach Greg Hughes excited about the next 21 days.

"I'm so proud of the team," Hughes said. "Those were some gutsy races across the board. We have a strong team. There is nobody in the EARC doing what we're doing on the team level. That was something we talked about. It took four years, and it was hard, but it's cool to see."

The heavyweights finished second in the Rowe Cup team standings, only four points behind a Yale crew that won its fourth straight Sprints title, but those team standings factor only the top three races. Princeton won gold in the 4V and silver in the 5V, making it the only program to finish in the top four in all five races. The Tigers won either gold in silver in the 2V through 5V races Sunday night.

And it was awfully close to the top two in every race.

The varsity eight entered its grand final as the fifth-seeded boat in the field, but the Tigers made the most impressive progression of any crew in a wild final Sunday night on Lake Quinsigamond. The Tigers, who had lost each of their last three regular-season races, decided they weren't going to race for just any spot on the podium. They made a spirited push at Yale, which became the first Eastern crew to win a national title in 12 years last spring, and the Tigers held second place for the majority of their final.

Yale, however, showed why they remain the boat to beat in the east with a strong win over three hard-charging boats. Princeton was ultimately caught at the line by both Harvard and Brown, but in both cases, the margin was significantly less than in their regular-season losses. The same was true with Yale, a sign of the growth that the Tigers have made recently.

"It was truly an incredible race," Hughes said. "The boats are really evenly matched. Had it been half a second the other way, everybody would be slapping high fives. We had to gun for it to be in it. I thought they raced an awesome race, and when you look back to where they were 2-3 weeks ago, there are some big gains."

"Last year, we lost by nearly six seconds, but we won a bronze," Hughes added. "Initially, there was some disappointment and frustration to finish fourth, but pretty quickly, they realized just how wild that race was, and how far they've come. I think we're getting to the spot where it isn't about the coaching. They're creating their performance. It's exciting, and it's fun to be part of it. It's organic."

That growth has happened throughout the team, and it isn't just from the experienced veterans. The 2V has four freshmen who made their Sprints debut Sunday, and they showed incredible poise in a tight final. The boat — ironically named the 'May 13, 2001' which refers to the date the 2001 Tigers won 1V Sprints gold — held off Yale by less than one second to win the program's third 2V gold medal in the last four years.

The 3V made a charge at top-seeded Yale in a race Hughes considered "equally sick" to the wild pace of the 1V final; the Bulldogs held on for gold by less than a second, but no other boat was within five seconds of the top duo. The 4V was the clear class of its field, topping Harvard by more than four seconds, and the 5V fell to Wisconsin by less than one second, but defeated the rest of the crews by more than five seconds to win silver.

Yale took the Rowe Cup with 39 points, while Princeton finished second with 35, and Harvard took third with 32 points. No other team was within seven points of the Tigers in the final team standings.

Princeton will now shift its focus to the IRA Championships, which will be held in three weeks at nearby Mercer Lake.

First Varsity
Yale 5:54.668
Harvard 5:58.072
Brown 5:58.232
Princeton 5:58.728
Northeastern 6:01.172
Boston University 6:03.602

Second Varsity
Princeton 5:58.827
Yale 5:59.352
Brown 6:03.612
Northeastern 6:04.801
Harvard 6:07.103
Dartmouth 6:17.049

Third Varsity
Yale 5:48.63
Princeton 5:49.23
Harvard 5:54.42
Boston University 5:55.07
Northeastern 5:57.73
Dartmouth 5:59.63

Fourth Varsity
Princeton 5:53.913
Harvard 5:58.037
Yale 6:00.127
Wisconsin 6:03.418
Brown 6:03.832
Navy 6:06.107

Fifth Varsity
Wisconsin 6:03.212
Princeton 6:03.815
Navy 5V 6:09.087
Navy 6V 6:12.701
Brown 6:15.426
Harvard 6:16.271
Yale 6:19.863

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results