Hungry, Angry, and Determined...

"“And most important never, never let them eat after midnight, because when they do, they change… They become clever, mischievous and dangerous.” Gremlins Trailer.

Four peat? That just doesn't sound right. The Chicago Bulls couldn't do it in succession; the Pittsburgh Steelers couldn't do it in succession? Could the Big Red roll on under a new Head Coach to become the first team in History to Four-Peat at an IRA Lightweight Championship? We will find out beginning on March 28th when they open their season at the Ithaca College invitational. They will then battle Penn and Harvard in Philadelphia, Princeton, in New York, MIT and Columbia in Boston, Yale in New Haven and Dartmouth in Worcester en route to the sprints. Unfortunately, the thing about the Big Red is; we will probably have very little idea how good they are until Sprints on May 10th. After loosing to Princeton by over 4 seconds and Yale by 5 on the same day last year, Cornell steam rolled the two with a huge push after the first minute of the race at the Sprints to win in impressive fashion. When it comes to the Frozen Bears from Ithaca, you don't know until you know.

Princeton...hmm... Princeton has had a busy year. After winning the U23 Lightweight double trial with Robin Prendes and James Donovan, Princeton signed a solid class of freshman, and won the Head of the Charles with a 10 second gap to boot. They where fourth in the 2V Light 8 at the sprints and 3rd in the freshman light eight so the expectation is that they will at least be as good as they were last year. However, March 28th will still be a big day for Georgetown, Columbia and Princeton in their annual opener. This year is no different from last; they will have a grueling duel season, facing Navy on April 4th in Princeton, Cornell at Ithaca, Penn in Philly, and finally, the famed HYP in New Haven before Sprints on May 10th.

Yale is looking to regain their position as the best lightweight crew in the country this year, no doubt about that. After winning the Open Light Four at the Head of the Charles, and the light eight and pair at the Belly of the Carnegie you can bet they will be tuned up for their traditional first meeting against the Midshipmen vying for the Johnson Cup on March 28th. They are deep deep deep, with two classes of freshman Sprints Champions now graduated to the Varsity. Additionally, their 2V and 3v placed in the top two last year at the Eastern Sprints. If they can withstand a tough duel schedule vs. Navy at Princeton, MIT/GTown at Derby, Columbia/Penn in New York, Cornell in Derby, and Dartmouth, Cornell and Harvard/Princeton all at home, they will show very well at Sprints and the IRA. The New Haven HYP could be the race to watch this year.

Harvard seemed to have everything go wrong last year starting with the Eastern Sprints when none of their boats landed in the Grand Final. Although they were able to race to a third place finish in the 4- at the IRA, they will still have an unsteady foundation to build a Varsity program on this year. That said it seems the Crimson could turn the tide starting with a stellar freshman class including former Shaker Rowing Associatiation's Austin Meyer and Tom Nessel; former US Rowing National Champions and the US Representative for the Junior World Championships this year. Having already won the esteemed Belly of the Carnegie, this class could offer a much needed infusion of hope to the program that has lost a little steam. The Crimson won't open until April 4th vs. Cornell and Penn in Philly, and will work through a challenging duel season vs. MIT/Dartmouth, Navy and of course the HYP in consecutive weeks.

Navy...Under the direction of the newly appointed Head Coach, Nick Baker, the Midshipmen will hope to take the final leap towards winning a National Championship. After an incredibly resilient season, Navy opened last year with a huge win vs. Princeton a huge loss to Yale in Princeton, and a disappointing 4th place finish at the Eastern Sprints. After losing to both Princeton and Yale in Worcester by a significant margin, Navy incredibly crawled back to finish 2nd at the IRA nearly running down the Big Red in the final 500-m in one of the most entertaining lightweight finals in recent history. They have already come out to show that they are still top notch, finishing second at the Head of the Charles and third at the Belly.

Georgetown has shown renewed vigor after missing the Final at the Eastern Sprints last year, they placed 5th at the IRA. This fall they were 8th at the Head of the Charles (5th among colleges). Their freshman eight was just 2 seconds behind Yale at the Eastern Sprints last year, finishing second, so the Hoyas could make another run for a podium spot at the big regattas this year.

God bless spring racing, head out to a local regatta near you!