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Vol. LXIV, No. 14
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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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Vol. LXIV, No. 14
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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction)
VOICE OF CHANGE: Princeton University crew coach Greg Hughes instructs his rowers in a training session last spring. Last Saturday, Hughes guided the Tiger men’s heavyweight first varsity to a win over Georgetown in his debut as new head coach of the program. Hughes is a veteran of the Princeton rowing scene, having starred for the Tiger lightweights in the mid-1990s before serving as freshman heavyweight coach and men’s lightweight head coach. He took over the heavyweight program last summer after the retirement of longtime coach Curtis Jordan. |
When Greg Hughes first addressed the Princeton University men’s heavyweight crew last fall as its new head coach, a fire and brimstone speech could have been in order.
After all, the Princeton heavyweight varsity eight underachieved last spring, posting a disappointing 1-6 record and finishing 13th at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championship regatta.
In the wake of the dismal campaign, longtime head coach Curtis Jordan retired after 19 seasons, 131 wins, and two national titles.
Even though the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team took a 3-2 lead over Brown into halftime last Saturday, Chris Bates felt uneasy.
“Frankly it wasn’t the game we thought it should be; we thought we should be up 5-1 or 6-1,” said Princeton head coach Bates.
“We gave up a cheap goal. We dominated possession but I was a little bit concerned that we were playing at their tempo.”
A 4-18 record may not sound like progress but posting that mark last spring represented a step in the right direction for the Princeton High baseball team.
The win total quadrupled the program’s output in 2008 when it suffered through a 1-22 campaign.
As he returns for his second year as the PHS head coach, Dave Roberts believes that there is a comfort level that should result in more improvement.
For the Hun School baseball team, last spring was an extended exercise in Murphy’s Law.
After winning back-to-back state Prep A titles in 2007 and 2008, the Raiders fell on hard times last year as they struggled to a 6-14 mark.
In assessing the disappointing 2009 campaign, longtime head coach Bill McQuade acknowledged that nothing went Hun’s way.
Last spring, the Princeton Day School boys’ tennis team won its fifth straight Prep B state title by the skin of its teeth.
The Panthers ended up sharing the title with Gill St. Bernard’s and Montclair Kimberley, producing the first three-way tie in the tournament’s 22-year history.
Heading into his 27th season at the helm of the PDS program, head coach Rome Campbell knows things are going to be just as tough this spring.
“We are going to be challenged in every match,” said Campbell, noting the local public schools are talented and that the prep teams have a lot of quality players as well.