After 2006, when the EAWRC saw a clearly dominant Princeton best all comers, parity has returned to the league, in no way more evident than in Yale's shock defeat of Brown two weeks before Sprints. Undefeated Yale is a clear and unanimous #1 going into Sprints, but Brown will likely regroup, and Princeton (though perhaps not in an easy position to repeat as champs), Dartmouth, and Radcliffe will bid to be involved in determining the outcome.
The third-ranked Tigers were just under 2 seconds behind Yale a week before Yale's victory over Brown, a sign that the Tigers may have found some late season speed. [ Editor's Note: row2k previously identified the margin between Princeton and Yale as less than 1 second. we regret the error. ]
All told, tho, this championship could go either way - a couple crews could try to run away with it, or the pack could haul up behind them and make it a free-for-all in a very tight pack. Behind this trio, Dartmouth, Radcliffe and Northeastern are looking like the likely remaining finalists. Dartmouth has been close to Princeton, has beaten Radcliffe twice, and, as a program, has closed the gap to the top of the league considerably: consider that in the V8, JV8, V4 and N8, there are four programs that have crews ranked in the top 5 in all four events: Yale, Brown, Radcliffe and Dartmouth. The Princeton-Dartmouth-Radcliffe 3-4-5 cluster of crews feature a classic "A beat B, B beat C, C beat A" regular season tally, so a run at the medals is not out of the question for any of these crews. Northeastern has been running well ahead of the middle of the pack this season, but also finished a solid 10 seconds back on Radcliffe at the inaugural "Beanpot" regatta of Boston women's teams.
Penn is in the #7 slot going into the regatta. After a pretty good string of years in the Petites, the Quakers might be good for a surprise under first-year coach Mike Lane. Penn finished only 3 seats down on #6 Northeastern early in the season and needs be watched to see if they made up enough ground to sneak into the final.
In the JV, it's Brown all the way. Brown has not lost this season, with its closest contest an open-water win over second ranked Yale. One could speculate that there's been some seatracing on the Seekonk after the Brown 1V lost to Yale, but Brown as a squad is deep. Behind Brown, it's Yale, Princeton and Radcliffe in a pile; Yale nipped Princeton by 2 seats mid-season and handled Radcliffe by open water, while Princeton beat Radcliffe by almost the same margin as did Yale.
As in the V8, it's Dartmouth, Penn and Northeastern who will be looking to make the final from the 5-6-7 spots.
Brown is also the class of the field in the Novice 8: no crew has come closer than 13 seconds to the Brown frosh, who will be incredibly hard to beat at Camden. The closest crew to Brown, the Yale frosh, is seeded #2, with Penn at #3. Yale finished 8 seconds ahead of Penn to open the season, while Penn has several quality wins in the bag. Dartmouth, Radcliffe and Syracuse are the likely remaining finalists in the N8, though this event is usually good for upsets and surprises, with Navy, Cornell and Rutgers lurking.
Radcliffe, Brown, Princeton and Yale will likely be the gamers in the V4 "A" event. Radcliffe has leapt to the top spot in recent weeks, despite early season losses to Princeton and Brown, by virtue of a victory over Yale and Yale's victory, in turn, over Princeton. Behind these four crews Dartmouth and Northeastern are looking for a lane in the final. As with the JV, the V4 can be affected by seat-swapping in the lineups above, so just about anything can happen in this event.
The field at women's sprints has definitely evolved, and most certainly not for the worse, with several newbie crews in the mix right off the bat. Rhode Island is seeded 12th in the V8, the highest-ranked newcomer, with BC, George Washington and Georgetown all making their presences felt in the 18-squad field.
In the light eight, the five-boat final includes two undefeated crews, Wisco and Princeton, who did not meet on Western shores, or at the very least race on the same water, at all this year. Polls give the edge to Wisco based on competition vs. mutual and similar opponents, but when the championship comes down to one shot down the river sans heats, reps, or any other trips to the line, you're guaranteed an edgy, potentially dramatic final.
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