Lightweights Take Down Reigning IRA Champion Columbia To Earn Campbell Cup, Improve To 3-0

Saturday, March 30

Princeton, N.J.

11:00 AM

Princeton University

Columbia (Campbell Cup)

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Lightweights Take Down Reigning IRA Champion Columbia To Earn Campbell Cup, Improve To 3-0

March 30, 2019 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight

Three times last season, Princeton fell just short of top-ranked Columbia, including once in a dramatic IRA championship final. The first meeting of 2019 was another close one, but this time the third-ranked Tigers were the ones to cross the finish line first. Princeton improved to 3-0 on the season and regained the Campbell Cup by 2.7 seconds over #1 Columbia.

The two teams split the four races, with Princeton winning the 1V and 3V, while Columbia took the 2V and 4V. Each of the first three races were decided by fewer than four seconds, including a varsity race that saw the Tigers win in 5:39.8.

"Our main focus for this race was to establish our speed quickly and maintain it all the way through the race," senior captain Danny Hogan said. "One of our focuses for this year has been improving our ability to come off the start line and establish a base speed that is unsustainable for other crews. One of our weaknesses from last year was our start, but our approach to the start this year has helped us gain a substantial advantage in the first 500 meters. We were able to push off the backs of our opponents the whole race and maintained our speed well. We still have much more room for improvement and many places to clean up, but we are ready to make these changes as a boat and really push ourselves to the next level.

"The team as a whole showed a lot of improvement this week and I am excited to see how each boat continues to develop in the coming weeks," Hogan added.

While the Princeton 1V lost a pair of important seniors in James Goble and James Sincavage, it returns six rowers and the coxswain from a crew that not only earned silver at both Sprints and IRAs, but also trained to get together before a thrilling run at the 2018 Henley Royal Regatta.

"Boat chemistry is a mostly unwritten requirement for any boat to excel," Hogan said. "Keeping much of our lineup intact has allowed us to step off the high pedestal we built for ourselves last year and continue to drive each other to improve. It is an absolute honor to row and race with the teammates I have, and I know my boat mates feel the same way. It makes it a hell of a lot easier to push yourself when you have respect and love for those around you. I just hope I can continue to appreciate the unique opportunity that is the process of forming such a strong bond with eight other people. It is something I know I will miss dearly when I graduate and something that drives me day in and day out."

Princeton remains home next weekend to take on Dartmouth, Delaware and Temple in the Diamond Challenge Cup regatta.

First Varsity
Princeton 5:39.8
Columbia 5:42.5

Second Varsity
Columbia 5:46.9
Princeton 5:50.3

Third Varsity
Princeton 5:52.1
Columbia 5:55.8

Fourth Varsity
Columbia 6:03.0
Princeton 6:18.2

LINEUPS
1V
Bow Gianni Pompili
2 Charlie Kwitchoff
3 Daniel Hogan
4 Jordi Cabanas
5 David Slear
6 Adam Teece
7 George Dickinson
Stroke Marcus Jonas
Coxswain Sydney Edwards

2V
Bow Rick Swanton
2 George Middleton
3 Greg Kernisan
4 Sam Breckenridge
5 Jack Woll
6 Will Hess
7 Andrew Berg
Stroke Henry Vecchione
Coxswain Shea Minter

3V
Bow Daniel Chao
2 Matt Butler
3 Ameen Moshirfar
4 Tyler Skow
5 John Carr
6 Matt Collins
7 Jason Sun
Stroke Henry Thomas
Coxswain Riesa Cassano

4V
Bow Dennis Duffin
2 Felipe Mendoza
3 Gordon Walters
4 Clayton Travis
5 Peter Colvin
6 Oliver Crane
7 Niko Apostolakis
Stroke Nick Wooldridge
Coxswain Matt McGhee