Duals this weekend

Two more Sprints schools swing into action this weekend as Radcliffe travels to Georgetown and Princeton welcomes Bucknell.

On Saturday Radcliffe and Georgetown battle over the Class of 2004 Cup. And I do mean battle. Radcliffe is looking for revenge and Georgetown is ready to prove that 2006 was no fluke. The Harvard Crimson article I linked to previously plays right into these themes:

The Radliffe lightweights will look to avenge this late-season turn-for-the-worse in the coming weekend against those very Hoyas.

Next Saturday, the Black and White will travel to Georgetown for the first meet of its young season, and, more importantly, for its first chance at redemption.

Having failed to win an IRA national championship over the past ten years, defeats such as the ones incurred at the hands of the Hoyas and Wisconsin last year are striking setbacks.

But these challenges motivate the squad, and, with the spring season about to begin, the team is ready.

The fact is, Radcliffe is strong this year, and could very well dominate the entire league, not just Georgetown.

Then again, shall we just stop taking the Hoyas for granted right now? This was the second place team in the nation - a position earned, not given. Last year was a breakthrough season and this race will be the first opportunity for Georgetown to state, once and for all, that it was only the beginning. Second was great, once. Now it's on to the championship, and the trip begins Saturday.

On Sunday, Princeton takes on Bucknell. We don't know if it will be a lightweight or a heavyweight Bucknell boat. Rumors still persist that the Bison will only race heavyweights until the IRAs, but the last Bucknell press release stated that the "lightweights" will be racing at Princeton. I've asked Bucknell for some clarification, but I haven't yet received a response.

For the Tigers, however, it doesn't really matter if it's the heavyweights or the lightweights, because a crew that hopes to win IRAs must beat either boat. While there is almost no way to actually compare speed, I think you can make a pretty good case for saying that the lightweight IRA champion is faster than the Dad Vail heavyweight champion. Bucknell heavies were in the petites the last two years, but even if you assume they win Dad Vail this year (although it's not on their schedule), Princeton must be faster if they want to be on track for an IRA championship. This will be a nice race for Princeton and given that it's early in the season (when brute force often dominates skill), this could be a bit of a see-saw battle.

As for Bucknell's plans for the rest of the season, we'll know a little bit more when we see who races at Princeton. [Update: See comment for an interesting take on this.]