Courtesy: Princeton Athletic CommunicationsThe Princeton open crew continued a strong season with victories over Harvard, Bucknell and Cornell Saturday morning in The Class of 1975 Cup regatta on Lake Carnegie.
With challenging conditions on Lake Carnegie (increasing headwind and chop), Princeton won all three of the NCAA championship races during the morning regatta. The first varsity finished in 7:23.2, good enough for a nearly seven-second win over Harvard. The Crimson placed second in 7:30.0, while Bucknell placed third soon after in 7:31.9. Cornell took fourth in 7:57.7.
Both the second varsity eight and varsity four showdowns would be significantly closer, but Princeton found a way to grab wins in both. The Princeton 2V finished in 7:32.2, which topped Harvard's time of 7:35.1. Bucknell and Cornell placed third and fourth, respectively. In the varsity four race, Princeton needed a strong move to hold off Bucknell. The Tigers won the race in 8:04.5, while the Bison placed second in 8:06.2. Harvard took third in 8:10.4, while Cornell placed fourth in 8:24.0.
Harvard topped Princeton (8:12.5) by 5.1 seconds in the varsity 4B, while the Tiger novice four finished third (8:53.0) against Cornell and Bucknell.
Princeton is now 6-1 on the season, but it knows there is a major test coming soon. The Tigers will travel to New Haven next Saturday to take on 2008 NCAA champion Yale for the Eisenberg Cup. Princeton has moved to No. 7 in the national rankings, but Yale stands in the top spot of the poll with 19 of 25 first-place votes.
