Red and Blue Rowing fall short in three cup races

All three of the Penn rowing teams struggled against superior-ranked teams this weekend, failing to notch a single first-place finish in 14 starts.

The No. 16 heavyweight men took on No. 2 Harvard and No. 8 Navy in the annual Adams Cup race, hosted Saturday by the Midshipmen on the Severn River.

The Crimson lived up to their ranking, capturing their 12th straight Adams Cup in the varsity eight, finishing in 5:59.3 — well ahead of third-place Penn’s 6:11.9. The Quakers haven’t won the cup since 1999.

The Red and Blue finished last in each of their three other races. The freshman eight finished at 6:27.1, 14.2 seconds behind the Crimson and 7.1 behind the Midshipmen.

The No. 9 lightweights had a similarly difficult day against No. 3 Georgetown and No. 6 Princeton, which hosted the day of races on Lake Carnegie.

The Tigers claimed the Wood-Hammond Cup, finishing in 5:41.2, ahead of Penn by 8.2 seconds. The Hoyas won the race in 5:38.7 but as a guest could not capture the trophy.

The Quakers also fell in the second and third varsity eights, both of which Princeton won.

The freshmen eight was a bright spot for Penn, finishing in 6:02.5 — good for second place — 6.7 seconds behind Princeton, but 7.7 seconds ahead of Georgetown.

At home on the Schuylkill, the women dropped six races against No. 7 Princeton and No. 19 Dartmouth.

The Tigers cruised to victory in the varsity eight — 6.9 seconds ahead of the Big Green and 19 ahead of the Quakers — earning them the Class of 1984 Plaque for the 26th consecutive season. Penn has never won the cup.

The Red and Blue managed two second-place finishes in three-team races, in the second varsity and the second four.

Next up for the heavyweights are the Eastern Sprints on May 13. The lightweights host Navy and MIT on the Schuylkill next weekend. And the women are off until the Ivy Championships on the Cooper River on May 13.

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