Courtesy: Princeton Crew/Tom NowakWhile three of its four boats made grand finals, the Princeton heavyweights had an up-and-down day at the 2009 EARC Championships. The first varsity squad, which seeked redemption after a tough regular season, barely missed qualifying for the petite final and ended the day 13th overall at the Eastern and Ivy League championship regatta.
The Tiger 1V bounced back after a tough semifinal heat to win the third-level final in a time of 5:59.331, topping Penn's second-place time of 6:03.065. Princeton defeated a pair of Ivy League rivals in the final, as Yale placed third in the event. Brown, which defeated Princeton for the Content Cup last weekend, won the EARC and Ivy League title by taking the grand final in 5:41.363, more than one second faster than Harvard. Princeton was forced into the third-level final after placing fifth in its semifinal heat. Harvard and Northeastern qualified for the grand final, while fourth-place Navy pushed Princeton (5:51.840) out of the petite final by less than .3 of a second.
The rest of the Princeton boats had a successful afternoon. The Tiger 2V, which head coach Curtis Jordan credited during the week for an impressive season despite a fluctuating lineup, finished fourth overall in a time of 5:55.79. The Tigers lost to only one Ivy League opponent, as Brown won the race in 5:47.33. Wisconsin and Boston University placed second and third, respectively, which pushed Princeton off the medal stand.
The Princeton freshman eight placed fifth in its grand final with a time of 6:08.37. Brown, Harvard and Cornell took the top three spots, but Princeton beat Yale by more than three seconds for a top-five finish. The third varsity earned a spot in the grand final, but the Tigers finished sixth in a time of 6:23.49.
Princeton will now have several weeks off to try and find some positive momentum before the 2009 IRA championships, which determines the national title. The IRAs will be held during the first weekend in June in Sacramento.
