GRAND ACHIEVEMENT: The Princeton University open varsity 4 powers its way to a sixth place finish in the grand final at the NCAA Championships last Sunday on Mercer Lake. The boat was only the sixth V4 in open program history to reach the NCAA grand final. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Emily Erdos and the Princeton University women’s open varsity 4 didn’t have a smooth ride in their road to the NCAA championships.

“It took a while for this boat to jell throughout the season,” said sophomore coxswain Erdos, a native of Harvard, Mass.

“We would overcome different struggles and tensions within the boat. I think our biggest enemy coming into the weekend was ourselves.”

Dealing with some injuries in the last week of training, the boat focused on the moment once it hit the water at Mercer Lake last week for the national competition.

“We had to rally coming into this,” asserted Erdos, who guided the boat to a second place in its opening heat on Friday.

“I think we did a good job of turning around our mindset and stepping up for each race and putting our best foot forward.

The boat stepped up in historic fashion in the semifinal on Saturday, producing a strong sprint over the last 500 meters to take third, becoming only the sixth V4 in Princeton open rowing history to reach the NCAA grand final.

“It was pretty unreal for us,” said Erdos, noting that the boat was seeded 10th coming into the competition and was the only double-digit seed to make this year’s grand final.

“It was something that I don’t think a lot of people imagine that we could do and we didn’t imagine that we could do until we were in that kind of situation. It was pretty exhilarating.”

While the boat ended up sixth in the grand final as it clocked a time of 7:25.406 over the 2,000-meter course, Erdos was happy with the effort.

“We were aiming to work with the other crews on the water and see where we were,” said Erdos, reflecting on the race which was won by top-seeded Washington in a time of 7:07.103.

“Because we have two seniors in the boat we were looking to put out our best race and leave the water with no regrets and feel like we put everything into the race. I don’t think we could have done anything differently.”

Princeton head coach Lori Dauphiny was proud of how the V4 raced at the NCAA regatta.

“It was great for the varsity 4 to be in the final, it was awesome to see them get there,” said Dauphiny.

“It is not an easy road; it is a big fight from start to finish so I was really proud of them and their performance. They have had a solid year and have continued improving throughout the season.”

Erdos, for her part, will be using her experience last weekend as a springboard for continued improvement.

“Last year I was in the 2V so it was a different experience being in the four,” said Erdos.

“Each boat adapts to its situation. I think this fires us up for next year and I am pretty fired up.”