The Princeton’s women’s Varsity may have put up a perfect record this spring, but any EAWRC coach will tell you that it’s near impossible to feel 100% comfortable headed into Sprints weekend. Princeton heads to Camden as the favorite, knowing it will take another superlative performance to defend their 2004 title.
It’s a measure of the competitiveness of the league that Princeton won by closed water in each of its races with Yale, Radcliffe and Brown, the three crews ranked behind the Tigers going into Sprints. In fact, third seeded Radcliffe actually got closest to Princeton, losing by about 4 seats, but Yale gets the nod at the no. 2 seed by virtue (in part) of a photo-finish win over Radcliffe three weeks ago. Brown, the defending NCAA champs, are in the hunt as well, once again demonstrating some of their late season speed. However, Brown has lost to each of the top three crews already, and will have to rev it up to affect the outcome of the final.
Behind these four crews, Syracuse, BU and a resurgent Navy crew (11th place in 2004) pace the field, and have a chance at the final. Columbia also has a shot at the Grand, but would need a solid row to make it out of the heats.
Brown’s JV has kept a clean sheet on their EAWRC slate this year, and looks poised for the win. The JV event scans much like the Varsity event does, with Yale, Princeton and Radcliffe rounding out the top four. Yale was within a half-length of Brown to close out the regular season, while Princeton, after struggling early in the year, will hope to play the role of spoiler. Radcliffe should also be in the picture.
Behind them, Cornell, Northeastern, Penn and BU will look to push the favorites. A good row in the heats could put any of these four crews into the final.
Like their JV, the Brown novices have paced the EAWRC this year and look hard to beat. A surprising Columbia crew has the best chance of catching them, though Brown put a convincing 7 seconds on CU in their dual meet. Columbia’s novices, no shrinking violets in regards to their own abilities, are no doubt looking forward to the rematch.
These two crews look to set the standard in the novice racing. Behind them, Cornell, Princeton and Dartmouth look to figure out the remaining medal, and perhaps take a shot or two at the two favorites. Cornell has been steady, while Princeton has taken some time to sort things out and find their speed this season.
Rutgers, Yale, BU and Radcliffe make up a tight gaggle of crews that have a legit shot at the Grand, with any one of them capable of a good piece and a trip to the Grand…or a not-so-great row and an appointment with the Petites.
Brown, again, gets the nod over Penn and Yale in the final poll for the 3rd Varsity fours. The Fours will be an interesting proving ground for crews that are jockeying for the NCAA team bids, as 3V rowers look to make their case vs. strong novice crews. Last year, Brown defeated Princeton by a point to capture the Willing Trophy, awarded to that team scoring the most points at the regatta, and on the face of the rankings this is likely to be the case again this weekend.
In the light eight, Wisco and Princeton have split this year, with Princeton taking the last matchup at the Knecht Cup. Wisco showed late season speed last year, although it wasn't until the IRA that they were able to bring it all.
Comments | Log in to comment |
There are no Comments yet
|