The Penn women's crew team beat Rutgers but lost to Cornell in a tri-meet for the Class of '89 Plate Saturday on Rutgers' Raritan River. Penn got off to a shaky start and quickly fell behind both the Big Red and Scarlet Knights. However, the Quakers recovered after the first 500 meters and started to row effectively. They caught and eventually pulled away from Rutgers midway through the race, but lost to Cornell by five seconds. The Quakers finished with a time of 6 minutes, 38 seconds, beating Rutgers by four seconds. "We did pretty well," Penn coach Carol Bower said. "My thought was, 'I wish we could have beaten Cornell.' I really feel like we're able to. We just need to get off the start a little better." Poor starts have been a problem in the past. The early portion of the race hurt the Quakers earlier in the San Diego Classic. Saturday, a few of the rowers had trouble getting their oars out of the water at the release, slowing the boat down. The Red and Blue had trouble with the rough water, which was caused by a windstorm, as well. The rowers had a hard time getting a grip on the water. "The first 500 meters put us at too much of a deficit," Bower said. "We need to be a little more confident in rough water, which we should be because that is what what practice in. It wasn't really the conditions but getting our heads together in rough water." Penn recovered very quickly from its mediocre start and rowed solidly the rest of the race. A strong flutter ten enabled it to overtake Rutgers. During the final three quarters of the contest, the Quakers matched speed with the Big Red. This was an accomplishment considering Penn lost to Cornell by 10 seconds in the San Diego Classic. Cornell is ranked fourth in Penn's 18-team division, while the Quakers are eighth. "I feel that if we can match the speed with the forth ranked team, we're getting there," Bower said. The win over Rutgers should increase Penn's divisional ranking to seventh, the spot that belonged to the Scarlet Knights going into the race. Penn has a chance to improve its divisional ranking even more next week on the Schuylkill River. There the Quakers take on sixth-ranked Dartmouth and top-ranked Princeton for the Award Plaque. It is the final competition before the Eastern Sprints.
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