With a two-week hiatus from competition coming into the Eastern Sprints last weekend, the Princeton University men’s heavyweight crew was able to fine-tune some things.

“We had worked on some really great changes over the couple of weeks that we had since the end of the regular season,” said Princeton head coach Greg Hughes.

That work paid dividends as Princeton won the Rowe Cup team points title at the regatta, which took place at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.

“I look at it as a great step forward for the whole team, everybody had their best race of the season up there and that is ultimately the goal and that led to Rowe Cup,” said Hughes.

While varsity 8 fell just short of beating top-ranked Yale in its grand final as it clocked a time of 5:39.838 just behind the Bulldogs’ winning time of

5:37.494, Hughes saw a lot of positives in the top boat’s performance.

“We had two main focuses; No. 1 was to be prepared to execute our race plan very well and then in order to do that, we stayed very internal with our focus because there is a lot going on out there,” said Hughes, noting that the windy conditions on the course posed an additional challenge for the rowers.

“It was making sure that we were being offensive with our race plan and not spending the entire race looking around and trying to respond to what everybody else did. I think the guys did a really nice job with that.”

Earning a second straight Rowe Cup title after having won it twice before (2001, 2005) was a major focus for Hughes.

“It shows us that our goal of developing a strong team and a strong team dynamic is working,” asserted Hughes, whose second varsity 8 took second while the third and fourth varsity 8s each placed first.

“It is also rewarding because I think individual boats’ results are always a product of the team environment that you create. So much of the training that we do through the winter, the fall, and early spring, you need to be pushed and challenged. Having strong people around you that are motivated and inspirational has a big impact on each individual’s ability to push and to fight for more.”

The Tigers are ready for a big fight as they head into the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championship regatta, which is slated for June 3-5 at Mercer Lake in West Windsor.

“I think that the racing at the IRA is going to be even tighter and harder fought than at the Sprints,” said Hughes.

“You are going to add the west coast crews into the mix; they look very strong as well. I believe the top east coast boats are on par and that is the exciting thing. It could be really fun racing so that is what we are going to get ready for and see if we can have a good run.”

Noting that the IRA is a three-day event with multiple heats, Hughes knows his rowers have to be primed to do well over the long haul to have a big run.

“It is not the big, emotional event like the Sprints can sometimes be where you have got two races in the span of six hours to come out and have a major effort, retool, and recover and come right back out and you are racing at full tilt,” said Hughes, whose top 8 took third in the IRA grand final last spring.

“You need to have the mental endurance and toughness to be ready for each of those events each day and to step through the racing. You need to be ready to step up, it is not just having one good race, you need to have a few. I think that is something we spend a lot of time training and preparing for physically and mentally throughout the year to just get better at having those multi-day performances.”