52 Motivated Weeks Later, Ivy Champs Look For Big Jump & Strong Finish At 2018 NCAA Championships

The Tigers who competed at the 2017 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships didn't exactly hide the distaste for their performance — not immediately after, not during the preparation for the 2018 season, and not during another successful spring on Lake Carnegie.

They didn't run away from it. They owned it, and they vowed to be better because of it. The early 2018 results — a 13-1 regular season, a third straight Ivy League title, and two gold medals at Ivies — indicate that Princeton did grow from that weekend. But the three days that the Tiger women's rowing team has long awaited have finally arrived.

This weekend, Princeton finally gets the chance to author a different finish to another NCAA-bound season. The three-time reigning Ivy League champion heads to Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida, to compete in the three-day national championships, beginning with a trio of morning heats Friday, May 25. The event, which continues the same format it has used for several years, continues with Saturday semifinals and finals on Sunday morning.

Nathan Benderson Park • The 2018 NCAA Rowing Championships • Sarasota, Florida

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Princeton, one of three teams to compete at every NCAA Championships since the inaugural regatta in 1997, is coming off a 10^th-place team finish at the 2017 event, held at nearby Lake Mercer. A Top-10 finish at NCAAs would make for a landmark achievement for many programs, but Princeton believed more was possible last spring, and the Tigers have no intention to leave Florida with any regrets this weekend.

Princeton brings 20 rowers and three coxswains to the 22-team NCAA Championships this weekend, including 16 (14 rowers, two coxswains) who competed at Mercer Lake last year. Both the 1V and 2V return five rowers from that specific boat, as well as at least one other from another boat, and a coxswain with NCAA experience.

Here is a look at each individual boat, and then additional notes about the upcoming championship weekend.

VARSITY EIGHT (13-1, 7-0 Ivy, Ivy League champion)
The Tiger 1V is coming off its third straight Ivy title, and it enters as the eighth seed in its draw. Princeton went 6-1 during the regular season against NCAA-bound crews, with its lone loss coming to seventh-seeded Iowa. Avoiding Friday repechages is the first goal for every boat, and based on seeding, the Tigers will likely battle against a familiar foe in the opening heat of the Championships. The 1V will race from Lane 4 Friday at 8:42 am, right next to reigning NCAA champion and top-seeded Washington. On the other side of the Huskies will be ninth-seeded Yale, the Ivy League silver medalists. Gonzaga and Syracuse will also be in the heat; Princeton topped the Orange by eight seconds on April 28.

SECOND VARSITY EIGHT (9-5, 5-2 Ivy, Ivy League champion)
The Princeton 2V made a huge jump at the Ivy League Championships, where it reversed earlier losses to both Brown and Yale to win its first league gold since 2012. A 2-5 record against the championship field during the regular season has left Princeton as the 11th seed; the Tigers will race from Lane 2 at 9:30 am and try to knock off either of the two higher seeds, #3 Virginia or #6 Texas, to advance directly to the Saturday semifinal. This crew brings the most experience to the regatta; it has five seniors, all who rowed at NCAAs at least one other time, and two juniors who competed at NCAAs last year as well.

VARSITY FOUR (9-5, 5-2 Ivy, won Ivy petite final)
The one race from the Ivy Championships that Princeton would love to have back is the opening heat for the varsity four, when the Tigers struggled and missed out on the grand final. Like the 2V, the V4 also went 2-5 against the championship field, but that heat pushed the Tigers back to the 13th seed, where it will race in the final heat of the morning (10:10 am). Fourth-seeded Virginia and fifth-seeded Texas are the boats to beat, while 12th-seeded Washington State should also be in the mix. Don't count out a strong improvement from the fours; last year, the Tigers went from a double-digit seed to only the sixth Princeton V4 to make a grand final.

CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
PDF version (with lineups)

Guess Who's Back
For the 22nd straight season, the Princeton open women's rowing team will be competing in the NCAA Championship regatta. Since the inaugural NCAA Championship regatta in 1997, Princeton is one of three teams which has been in the event each time (Brown and Washington are the others). Princeton has placed in the top five nine times and has earned a spot on the medal stand four times; as a team, the Tigers placed second in 1997 and third in 2006, 2010 and 2013.

Three-Peat
Princeton earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships by winning the Ivy League title May 13 on Cooper River. The Tigers, who followed a 7-0 run through the league by topping Yale by nearly three seconds, are the first program to win three straight Ivy championships since Brown (1998-2003). Princeton also set these marks in the league:
• the Tigers won their Ivy League-best 17th championship
• Princeton has won five of the last six Ivy titles
• Princeton has won six of the last eight Ivy titles

Twice As Nice
For the first time since 2011, two Princeton boats will come to the NCAA Championships having won gold at the Ivy League meet. The 2V — which has five seniors in it — entered Ivies as the third seed, but it rallied past Yale to win the first Ivy title for that boat since 2012.

We Meet Again
Following a disappointing 10th-place finish at the 2017 NCAA Championships, Princeton looked to raise its strength of schedule this spring to be better prepared for nationals. The Tigers have faced seven crews who will join them at NCAAs this weekend; here is each boat's record against those teams.
1V (6-1, 2-0 in Ivy final): Defeated Michigan, Brown, Yale, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Syracuse, as well as Brown and Yale in the Ivy final. Lost to Iowa.
2V (2-5, 2-0 in Ivy final): Defeated Michigan and Syracuse, as well as Brown and Yale in the Ivy final. Lost to Brown, Yale, Iowa, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
V4 (2-5, did not reach Ivy final): Defeated Iowa and Syracuse. Lost to Michigan, Brown, Yale, Virginia, and Wisconson.

Sweet 16
Princeton returns 16 members (14 rowers, two coxswains) from its 2017 NCAA Championship team, including eight members of the first varsity. Five rowers of the current 1V were members of the same 2017 crew, and two (coxswain Emily Kallfelz and 4-seat Claire Collins) will be in their third straight nationals as members of the 1V.

Fresh Faces
Princeton has two freshmen competing at NCAAs this weekend, including one in the 1V. Hannah Scott, a five-time national champion in Ireland, returned to the 1V before Ivies after missing three weeks due to injury. Sasha Culley, a member of Australia's 8+ at the 2015 World Junior Championships, rows in the 3 seat of the V4A.

Leading The Way
Princeton coach Lori Dauphiny is the winningest coach in the history of Tiger rowing, which includes both a men's heavyweight and lightweight program, as well as both a women's open and lightweight program. Dauphiny has a career record of 222-28 (.888) in this, her 22nd season at Princeton, and she has led the Tigers to the NCAA Championship in every year of her tenure.

Dauphiny has led Princeton to nine Ivy League titles and two varsity eight NCAA titles. Besides being honored as the Ivy League Coach of the Year in each of the last three seasons, Dauphiny is a multiple-time Mid-Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year. Over the last three Olympic Games, seven of Dauphiny's former rowers combined for 11 Olympic appearances and five medals. She was named Woman of the Year by USRowing in 2006, an award given in recognition of outstanding contributions to women's rowing.

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