Hwt. Crew sweeps three varsity races

What's sweeter than Spring Fling? How about victory? While the rest of the campus slept in on Saturday morning, the Penn heavyweight crew team was busy outracing Yale and Columbia on the home waters of the Schuylkill River. The Quakers not only won the Blackwell Cup for the third straight year, but also pulled off a varsity sweep of the Elis, as all three Penn boats recorded the fastest times in their respective races. "Our sweep clearly shows that the team has lots of depth, which bodes well for this year and looking ahead to next year as well," Penn junior varsity rower Justin Clemow said. "The inner-squad competition is fierce, as everyone is striving to be faster." In the varsity eight race, Penn's boat crossed the line first with a time of 5:55.0. Yale finished second at 5:57.74 and Columbia rounded out the field, clocking in at 6:12.41. "We led the race from start to finish," Penn senior captain Keith Sutter said. "Yale made a push about 850 meters into the race, but we held our composure, held them back and increased our lead during our sprint at the end." Penn rowed with increased focus and finesse in the race. "Our goal was to row a complete 2,000 meters without any major mistakes and we accomplished it," Penn senior commodore Doug Sieg said. "I am proud of the team -- everybody did a great job of battling the entire way." The varsity eight's victory ensured that the Blackwell Cup would grace the Penn boathouse for a third consecutive year. Penn's victories didn't end with the varsity eight, though. The Red and Blue's third varsity four kicked off the day's competition with a victory. Penn's A boat managed to edge out Yale by an eighth of a second with a time of 6:30.1. The Penn B boat finished a competitive third at 6:36.01. The Quakers' second varsity eight followed suit, also emerging victorious. Its time of 5:53.3 beat Yale's 5:57.06 and Columbia's 6:30.1. Although Yale pulled even midway through the race, the Red and Blue took a power move, pulled ahead by four seats and led the rest of the race by a comfortable margin. "It was a solid race and a step in the right direction," Penn sophomore second varsity rower Duncan Hansing said. "We know we can get faster and are confident about next weekend." While the Quakers were pleased with their performance, they were cautious not to overemphasize the races' importance. "All members of the team did a superb job and I am very happy with the results from the varsity program," Sutter said. "However, we need to take this victory into perspective as it is a cup race and not the Eastern Sprints or IRAs." The Quakers will compete for the Adams Cup next weekend against the Harvard and Navy in their last chance to race before the Eastern Sprints on May 13, when the Ivy League champion will be determined. "This week we need to focus on getting faster still, as Harvard and Navy are tough teams and will be the last ones we face before the Eastern Sprints," Sieg said. Spirits are high as the Red and Blue head into the challenging portion of their season. "We need to stay focused on racing our own race and not let other crews or conditions affect us, which is what we were able to do against Yale and Columbia," Clemow said. "We are very optimistic about the rest of the season."

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