On the Schuylkill

W. Crew falls to Terriers in Orange Challenge Cup "We were coming off of two weeks of training and we were very hopeful going in," Penn varsity eight member Allison Geuder said. The Quakers varsity boat fell to Northeastern on Saturday on the Charles River in Boston, but Penn coach Carol Bower emphasized that the team was "much more aggressive this week." "The varsity felt a lot better this weekend than after the Yale race," Bower added. Bower credited Amy Hoopes, who was put at stroke this week, and Marta Glazer for the extra aggression in the varsity boat. Penn needed the extra aggression this week because twenty strokes into the race, they were a full boat length behind. "We raced hard," Geuder said. "We thought we could've won at the end." However, Geuder pointed out that the crew members were not in sync. "We were not together," she said. While the varsity struggled, the junior varsity boat won its race and remained unbeaten this season. Bower gave particular praise to Michel Cogan, who was moved from the stroke of the varsity to the seven seat of the junior varsity boat. "She had a wonderful race," Bower said. The first and second freshmen came in second in their respective races. The first freshmen boat lost to Syracuse, and the second freshmen boat lost to the Terriers. "We're still positive," Bower said. "Every weekend is a chance to go out and prove ourselves." This weekend will definitely be a chance for the Quakers to amend for their loss as they face a strong Cornell team. "Cornell looks to be in the top three," said Bower, speculating on the Big Red's ranking that will come out at the end of this week. – Jon Carroll Freshmen impress, but Lwt. Crew struggles Despite a disappointing loss from Penn's varsity lightweight crew, the first freshmen crew once again pulled out an impressive win this weekend over Cornell and Harvard. The freshmen crew's 2.6 second win over the 1995 Eastern Sprints Champion Cornell crew was somewhat of a surprise. "We were kind of surprised, we were pretty happy about the way we rowed," Penn freshman stroke Joe Corcoran said. "They were pushed quite a bit," Penn coach Bruce Konopka added. "We got a pretty good lead out of the start, but Harvard was pushing them hard in the end. The Quakers varsity rowers didn't have nearly the same success. "We've got more work to do," Konopka said. "We have to keep working harder." "We're close, but we really have to put more into it," Penn senior captain Justin Zacks said. "We know we're not rowing up to our potential." The junior varsity boat, which was missing one of its rowers from its usual line-up, finished eight seconds behind the winning Cornell crew. The second freshman crew also lost by a margin of eight seconds to the Big Red -- who captured the Matthew/Leonard Cup by winning three out of four events. "As long as we keep rowing better and peak at Sprints, that's what really matters," Menkowitz said. – Justina Yee