Princeton/Georgetown/Syracuse Scrimmage Report

Conditions: Moderate cross head from the starboard side.

Note: The pre-season USRowing National Collegiate polls came out this past week and we were ranked #14. It has been a while since we have been that far down the list but I think it is fair given our fall performance and the seniors we graduated last spring. Princeton was ranked #4 and Georgetown was #15.

Results

Varsity 8:
Princeton 6:11.8
Syracuse 6:18.5
Georgetown 6:25.4

2nd Varsity 8:
Princeton 6:19.6
Syracuse 6:20.9
Georgetown 7:00.3

Frosh/Novice 8:
Princeton 6:24.8
Syracuse 6:29.2
Georgetown 6:55.3

3V/2F Extravaganza:
Princeton 3VH 6:38.8
Princeton 2FH 6:42.3
Princeton 3VL 6:47.3
Syracuse 2F 7:02.0
Georgetown 2F 7:39.9

Format: AM Session = 1 x 2000m; 1 x 1000m both from start
PM Session = 3 x 750m; Starting, middle, finishing

Varsity Eight: I thought we performed about how I expected in all of these pieces. Princeton took a big portion of their margin in the first 500m of the 2k and we were a couple strokes per minute lower than them through the body of the race. Obviously we will have to make that up by the time we get to Sprints and the IRA. We were doing a nice job of not disrupting the run of our boat but we need to work on having a bit more impulse if we are going to stay close to the likes of Princeton. We haven’t done much race pace work to this point of the season and I thought that showed a bit. During the rest of the pieces I thought we were pretty consistent with the exception of the first 750m where the guys apparently thought we could row 38-39 for the body of the piece. Turns out we can row that high but the only direction we move the boat is backward! We were third in that piece but were second to Princeton on all the others with Georgetown finishing third. Princeton looked every bit the #4 ranked team in the country and are poised for a fantastic season. Georgetown wasn’t very happy with their performance but I think they have some better talent than in past years and Coach Tony Johnson will have them moving by the Eastern Sprints.

Second Varsity Eight: These guys made some nice changes through the week and I thought did a good job of racing hard. Princeton got out to a full length in the first 500m of the 2k again and we did a nice job of hanging on to their stern through the middle of the race. We moved back a bit in the last 500m and finished just under 2 seconds down. We won the 1000m piece by a length and the 750m pieces were within a seat either way for all three. I thought it was some good racing by these guys. Senior James Olson stood out in the stroke seat as doing a particularly good job…this was his first go in one of the top two eights in that seat.

Frosh Eight/Second Frosh Eight: I actually didn’t get to watch much of these guys as the races were on such tight centers the varsity coaches couldn’t get back in time. I thought both crews had some moments were they looked solid as they passed us by and I think being 4.4 seconds off of Princeton isn’t a bad place to start the season. The Second Frosh were thrown in a heat with 5 boats that ranged from third varsities to second frosh and every combination in between. Typical of early season racing in the lower boats the placing seemed to change race by race.

Next up for us is the Goes Trophy with Cornell and Navy in Syracuse on Saturday, April 14th. This is our oldest regular season race and should be some interesting racing as both Navy and Cornell are ranked ahead of us in the USRowing National Polls. Rick Clothier, Navy’s long time head coach has also announced that this will be his last season. I believe this is his 38th Goes Trophy and the man has won his share. The racing will get under way at the Ten Eyck Boathouse at 8:00 am. I will send more info and a schedule as we get closer to the race.

My best to all,

Dave