W. Crew unable to keep pace with Princeton at Old Nassau

If there's one thing that can be said about the Penn women's crew team, it's that they're consistent. Last weekend, for the fourth race in a row, the No. 9 Quakers finished second in a field of three teams in the 1984 Cup race in Mercer County, N.J. The Penn varsity eight boat's time of 6:55.6 was 15 seconds behind No. 2 Princeton and almost six seconds ahead of No. 14 Dartmouth, which came in at 7:01.35. The beginning of the race was very surprising, as the seemingly outmatched Quakers were able to match Princeton stroke for stroke. "They weren't expecting us to be that close at all," Penn junior Laura Hamm said. "So I think we did a good job." The margin between the two teams did not widen until the 1,000-meter mark, at which point the Tigers began to pull away and prove that they were worthy of their high ranking. Dartmouth, on the other hand, stayed behind both teams the entire race. The race was originally scheduled to take place on the Schuylkill River, but it was moved to Mercer County. The race was moved because, along with other varsity teams, the Quakers were invited to race in the first-ever World Cup of Rowing held in the United States. The event was hosted by the International Rowing Federation. In the second varsity eight race, Penn finished third with a time of 7:59.29. Princeton won in 7:36.0 and Dartmouth was second in 7:48.32. The Red and Blue will now prepare for Sprints on May 13 in Cooper River, N.J., which could be their last race of the season. If the Quakers perform well, their season may be extended through an invitation to participate in the NCAA Championships to be held May 24-26 in Gainsville, Fla. With only two weeks left until the Eastern Sprints, the Quakers are excited about the possibility of reaching Nationals. "We can definitely turn some heads if we put our hearts into it," Hamm said. "It's not going to be easy, but I think we can do it."

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