PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers swimming and diving is back in action this weekend. The Scarlet Knights hit the road for the first road meet of the season, heading south to face in-state foe Princeton. The meet begins at 11 a.m. at DeNunzio Pool. There will be a live stream of the meet available online on ESPN+, and live results via Meet Mobile. The two schools will face off in a trophy meet, as it is the sixth annual Battle For The Cannon Trophy.

About Rutgers

Rutgers has had a pair of weekend competitions thus far this season. The Scarlet Knights posted a strong opening meet on October 11, welcoming St. Bonaventure and Fordham. RU earned a pair of wins, handedly downing the Bonnies (211-87.5) and the Rams (218-81).

The Scarlet Knights later hosted a pair of Power Four foes out of the ACC and SEC for a two-day meet on October 24-25, welcoming Miami out of the ACC and Arkansas from the SEC. In that meet, the Scarlet Knights Rutgers saw six different swims across five events placing in the top-ten all-time. That included two marks as high as fourth all-time (Ana Hazlehurst, 400 IM and Anna Vlachou, 100 Butterfly), as well as two sixth (Anna Vlachou, 100 Yard Freestyle and Emilianna Gonzalez in the 50 Yard Freestyle), a seventh (Ana Hazlehurst, 200 IM) and a ninth (Ellie Schinsky, 100 Butterfly). Rutgers was scheduled to compete last weekend against Queens, but the meet was cancelled due to travel issues.

On the diving side, RU ranks No. 6 nationally in the US PDCA Coaches Poll. The Scarlet Knights top their current rankings in the team dual meet power rankings.

 In their recent D-1 Power rankings, RU has three top-10 divers on the 3M: Amelia Scott (3rd), Katerina Hoffman (6th) and Bailee Sturgill (8th). They are led on the 1M by Katerina Hoffman (10th).

About Princeton

Princeton has won the past three Ivy League championships, finished last season ranked No. 25 by the CSCAA and are in the polls this year as well, coming into this week at No. 25. Princeton returns a pair of All-Americans in Eleanor Sun and Dakota Tucker.

The meet will be Princeton's home opener, with the team competing once thus far, with a sweep over Ivy League foes Dartmouth and Brown. In that meet, the Tigers broke seven pool records in the tri-meet victory in the 200 medley relay, the 400 free relay, 3-meter, 400 IM, 500 free, 100 back and 1000 free.

Rutgers will also see Princeton again in February, when the Tigers come to the Rutgers Aquatics Center for a diving event, the Rutgers Platform Invitational, on February 7.

Battle For The Cannon Trophy

• Rutgers and Princeton will be swimming and diving for the Cannon Trophy, named in honor of the Rutgers-Princeton Cannon War.
• The origin of the Rutgers-Princeton Cannon War dates to 1777 when two cannons from the British army were left on the campus of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) after the battle of Princeton during the Revolutionary War.
• The cannons remained near the campus until the larger of the two was put to use during the War of 1812 and moved to New Brunswick to protect the city.
• A dispute over cannon ownership ensued at some point, and the cannon eventually wound up back in Princeton, where it was placed, in the ground, on Princeton's campus on the site that is now called "Cannon Green."
• On the night of April 25, 1875, ten members of the Rutgers Class of 1877 set out to steal back "Big Cannon" from Princeton. However, they were unable to move it, so instead they returned to New Brunswick with "Little Cannon".
• Eventually, a joint committee settled the matter, and "Little Cannon" was returned to Princeton, however, Rutgers students have been known to travel the 17 miles to the Princeton campus to paint the cannon red.

Battle for the Cannon Trophy Results

• 2019 - Rutgers – 163-137
• 2021 - Princeton – 186-114
• 2022 - Princeton - 159.5-140.5
• 2023 - Princeton - 191.5-108.5
• 2024 – Princeton - 176.00-124.00

Up Next

The meet is the first on the road this season. For RU, it marks the first of the next four events coming away from home. The Scarlet Knights are not back at RU until a January 23 Senior Day meet against La Salle.