Crew: Crimson edges out Tigers

The conditions on Lake Carnegie were fair but cold with a slight breeze Saturday morning when the men’s heavyweight team’s first boat faced Harvard.

The Tigers took a one-seat lead in the first 10 strokes and extended their lead to two seats during the first 250 meters. Shortly before the 500-meter mark, Princeton led by about a quarter of a length, its largest lead of the race. Harvard made a move at 500 meters to take a two-seat lead, but by the 1,000-meter mark Princeton had caught up.

After 500 meters of jockeying for position, Harvard edged its bow-ball in front of the Tigers’ bow to force a one-seat lead, a deficit from which Princeton never recovered. The Tigers then faded and gave up an additional quarter-length in the last 100 meters, ultimately finishing in 5 minutes, 46.8 seconds, 1.2 seconds behind Harvard.

Harvard also claimed victory over the men’s heavyweight’s second, third and freshman boats.

“We need to get ready for Cornell and Yale this weekend, but later, during Eastern Sprints, we’ll get a chance to face Harvard again,” sophomore Allan Amico said.

The lightweight men faced No. 3 Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., on Saturday morning. A stiff 15 mph wind created a thick chop on the Cayuga Inlet, and the cold weather did nothing to improve the tough race conditions.

Despite starting behind Cornell because the start of the curved course was staggered, Princeton held a lead for the duration of the race. Princeton took more than three seats in the first 500 meters and by the 1,000-meter mark, the Tigers were already more than a full length ahead of the Big Red.

Princeton finished in 5:47.1, more than three seconds ahead of Cornell. Princeton also won the second varsity race, finishing with a time of 5:52.9.

This coming weekend, the lightweight men will face University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown in Philadelphia, Pa.

The women’s open team faced No. 10 Ohio State University and No. 11 Yale on the Housatonic River in New Haven on Saturday morning. Conditions started off calm when the race began early in the morning, but the headwind grew steadily more fierce as the race continued.

Princeton led from the start of the race but had to fight off moves from both Yale and Ohio State. This race was also staggered, so the Tigers initially had difficulty assessing their lead. Nevertheless, Princeton finished in 6:28.1, beating Yale and Ohio State by 2.9 seconds and 14.4 seconds, respectively.

“[Head coach] Lori Dauphiny was happy with how the team performed but pointed out we need to improve in every race,” sophomore Sarah Wiley said.