Quakers close behind Ivy champ Yale

In a sport as mentally demanding as rowing, confidence is key.

Coming off two big wins against Georgetown and Duke last weekend, the women’s rowing team kept their spirits high with a second-place finish at the Connell Cup Saturday, finishing behind No. 6 Yale and ahead of Columbia.

“I think this weekend was a great experience and a great confidence-builder,” coach Mike Lane said. “The kids now know they’re close to one of the fastest teams in the country, and that kind of confidence you can’t buy.”

Penn won the Varsity Four race, beating second-place finisher Yale by more than four seconds. The Quakers clocked a 7:07.20 in the 2,000-meter course in New Haven, Conn. Yale posted an impressive 6:09.40 to defeat Penn by just over three seconds in the first Varsity Eight race. Columbia rounded out third place well behind the top two, with a 6:22.00.

“It was a very successful performance for us,” Lane said. “We lost to one of the fastest boats in the country by only three seconds.”

Senior co-captain and stroke of the first Varsity Eight Elizabeth Donald felt that opening conference competition against Yale and Columbia was “a great way to start the competition in the Ivy League. We now have some races under our belts that we feel confident building upon.”

The second Varsity Eight race was much tighter, with Columbia edging Penn by just half a second to take second place, still 12 seconds behind Yale. The greatest frustration, however, came in the second Varsity Four race. Although the Quakers had the fastest time, they were disqualified because they missed the turning buoys.

“Obviously there were some mistakes made,” Donald said. “I’m still very excited about our overall performance, especially the Varsity Eight.”

“We’re going to take what we learned and go forward.”

For Penn, forward means upcoming major conference and nonconference competition.

“From here on out, every weekend is extremely important,” Lane said.

After a weekend off, Penn will compete in the Orange Challenge Cup against Syracuse and Northeastern, two strong teams that Lane said will prepare them well for races against Cornell, Dartmouth and Princeton in the weeks afterward.

But with the Quakers’ recent performances and what Donald calls “a new energy on the team,” Penn may have found the key to success moving forward.

“Going into our next set of races, our confidence level is very high,” Lane said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to our spring season.”

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