Courtesy: Beverly Schaefer Princeton will host Georgetown and Columbia Saturday morning.

INFORMATION CENTRAL l NATIONAL POLL

One week after defeating the Naval Academy to retain the Joseph Murtaugh Cup, the Princeton men’s lightweights will make their home debut on the Bud Smith Memorial Course on Lake Carnegie against EARC rivals Georgetown and Columbia.

Princeton, which opened at the No. 2 spot in the first USRowing Collegiate Poll, has dominated the series lately, and it retained the Fosburgh Cup in each of the last two years by the same 3.8-second margin. The Tigers won all four races in the regatta last year.

Princeton won both the varsity eight and the freshman eight against sixth-ranked Navy last weekend. The varsity eight won by 5.3 seconds, while the freshman eight won by 6.1 seconds. The second varsity nearly pulled off a win, but ended up falling by one second.

Both the Lions and the Hoyas will be making their 2012 debuts this weekend. Neither team made the grand finals at the EARC Championships, though Columbia is bringing up a strong group of freshmen from the previous season. The Lions earned silver in the Freshman Eight grand final at the 2011 Eastern Sprints, while Princeton took fourth in the race.

Georgetown is ranked fourth, while Columbia is ranked seventh.

March 31
Princeton Heavyweights v. Georgetown/Syracuse
9:00 • First Varsity
9:10 • First Freshmen
9:20 • Second Varsity/Third Varsity
9:30 • Second Freshmen

Princeton Men’s Lightweights in Fosburgh Cup v. Georgetown/Columbia
10:20 • Third Varsity
10:40 • First Freshmen
11:00 • Second Varsity
11:20 • First Varsity: Fosburgh Cup