Focused Tigers Know Loaded Field Awaits Them Sunday In Ivy Championships At Cooper River

Emerson Solms may not even be finished her sophomore year at Princeton yet, but she is more than a veteran when it comes to Ivy League rowing. She will look to match arguably her best experience in the Orange and Black this Sunday when the Tigers head to Cooper River to race for the 2018 Ivy League championship.

Solms was a freshman when Princeton went wire-to-wire to win the 2017 Ivy title, its second straight and fourth in five years. As a sophomore, she would love nothing more than to grab another championship to complete what has been a strong season in one of the NCAA's most demanding leagues.

"The Ivy League is a strong conference, and we know that everyone has gained speed throughout the season," said Solms, who has been in the 1V throughout the spring. "The thing about rowing is that we can't control anyone else's speed, we can only control our own. We have said that over and over again this season, and it has pushed us to go the extra mile in practice and find more speed by staying internal and flowing as a boat.

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"We know that it is going to be a fast Ivies, and we are focusing on what we can control, which is our own speed," she added. "We race speed orders on Wednesdays with other teams in the boathouse, and we have had practice going bow ball to bow ball with other crews down the stretch, so we feel ready for tight racing with fast crews."

Princeton will need to be ready, because the Ivy League always produces fast crews in the postseason. The Tiger 1V enters Sunday as the top seed following an undefeated season, but it will be almost a full month between their last Ivy race (an April 14 win over Yale) and the championship weekend. The Tigers also had the fortune of racing every Ivy League opponent on their home course of Lake Carnegie, including a season-opening win over Brown on March 24. Princeton is familiar with Cooper River, but it's not the same as the course it trains on daily.

Regardless, Solms knows where the focus needs to be, especially since it's been in the same place all year — development, both within the full team and inside each individual crew.

"The 1V has been a great boat this season," she said. "Every boat on our team this year has been fiercely competitive, and we have all pushed each other. There has been a lot of movement from boat to boat, and it has kept us all sharp and increased speeds in all boats. The success of the 1V has been through the effort of every woman on our team.

"As far as the [1V] specifically, we have focused on identifying points in our race that have traditionally been 'weak points' in Princeton's racing, and we have sought to double down in those places and put together a complete race," Solms added. "We race that way in speed orders and during practice, and we have been able to bring that to our dual and tri races as well."

The Princeton 1V8 will open the Ivy League Championships with an 8 am heat against Dartmouth, Harvard, and Cornell — three boats the Tigers saw during the inaugural Ivy League Invitational on April 7. A Top-3 finish would send the Tigers to the 4:30 grand final, where they will try to win their league-best 17^th Ivy title.

Both the Princeton 2V8 and the V4A will open as the third seed in their respective fields. The 2V8 will race against Yale, Penn and Cornell in the 8:30 am heat, with the top three racing in the grand final at 4:00 pm. The V4A races Yale, Cornell and Dartmouth at 8:50, with the top three racing for gold at 3:30 pm.

The V4B, an all-freshman crew for the Tigers, competes against Penn, Brown and Harvard in a 9:10 heat, with the top three racing at 2:45 pm. Both the 3V8 (2:00) and the V4C (2:15) will compete in grand finals only and will open the afternoon session on Lake Carnegie.

"We have had a solid season," head coach Lori Dauphiny said of her full squad. "It has not been without its share of ups and downs with lineup changes and a few injuries, but the team has done a nice job of being resilient in the face of challenge. They have supported one another and it really shows. We are proud of this team."

IVY CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUNDUP

First Varsity Eight
8:00 am heat – Dartmouth, Princeton, Harvard, Cornell
4:30 pm grand final

Second Varsity Eight
8:30 am heat – Penn, Yale, Princeton, Cornell
4:00 pm grand final

Varsity Four A
8:50 am heat – Cornell, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth
3:30 pm grand final

Varsity Four B
9:10 am heat – Penn, Brown, Princeton, Harvard
2:45 pm grand final

Third Varsity Eight
2:00 pm grand final – Princeton, Yale, Brown, Harvard

Varsity Four C
2:15 pm grand final – Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Harvard

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