Other Weekend Action

M. Tennis looks to even Ivy record In today's matchup with the Elis, Penn should face tougher competition from Yale than was offered in years past. While Penn did beat Yale twice last year, the Elis have added some power to their lineup. The most promising addition for Yale has been freshman Jonathan Beardsley. Beardsley took off last year after completing high school to play on the professional tour and is now one of Yale's big guns. "Yale had a resurgence after last year," Penn coach Gene Miller said. Earlier this season, the Elis defeated national powerhouse Miami, but then lost a match to San Diego. "That demonstrates that they are beatable", Miller said. "But we are going to have to play some of our better tennis." After a day in New Haven, Conn., the Quakers hop on the bus for Providence, R.I. and Brown. "They're always tough when you face them at home," Miller said. The Bears will be led by No. 1 singles player Cornel Catrina In both the Yale and Brown matches, Miller will again be without the services of injured freshman Urs Baertschi. Most likely taking his place in singles will be freshman David Schwartzman, while Penn No. 1 singles player Udi Kish will team up with J.J. Cramer to play No. 2 doubles. – Matt Greenberger Hwt. rowers eyeing Blackwell Cup Despite solid performances at both the San Diego Classic and the Childs Cup, the Penn men's heavyweight crew team has yet to win a race this season. But the Quakers are optimistic of their ability to defeat Yale and Columbia for the Blackwell Cup tomorrow. Racing on the Housatonic River in Connecticut, Penn looks to revive the six-year winning streak it had from in 1987 to 1992. But recent history favors the Elis, who have won the Cup the past two years. Although Yale is always competitive, the crew is far from indomitable. The Elis have beaten Dartmouth, but they recently lost to Harvard by 3 seconds. "We are coming in with a lot of confidence," Penn captain Hardy Viener. "It is important to do well to prepare for next week." Next week, the Quakers will have their shot at the Crimson when they meet at the Adams Cup on the Schuylkill River. Quakers coach Stan Bergman is confident that if the men perform to their fullest potential, they can recapture the Blackwell Cup. – Heather Reardon Lwt. Crew to take on Columbia, Yale More than just a race is on the line this weekend for the Penn lightweight crew team. Currently ranked No. 8, the Quakers need to hold on to their ranking in order to have a shot at making the finals at the Eastern Sprints in mid-May. To avoid ending up in a difficult heat at Sprints, Penn needs to be ranked at least in the top eight. With No. 9 Georgetown only one point behind in the voting, Penn needs to beat Columbia tomorrow at Yale. "[A loss to Columbia] could really put us in a bind," Penn coach Bruce Konopka said. Coming off a loss to Cornell last weekend, the Quakers varsity eight will be shorthanded this weekend against both Yale and the Lions. Four of the varsity members will be taking the MCATS tomorrow. Four junior varsity rowers will fill the vacancies in the varsity boat. "Our team is just not that deep," Konopka said. "But they'll be trying their very hardest." – Justina Yee W. Crew to battle Cornell, Rutgers The last two years that the Penn women's crew team has faced Cornell along with Rutgers, the weather has been terrible and the Quakers lost both times. In 1994, Penn lost to the Big Red on the Schuylkill River by a mere .8 seconds in monsoon-like conditions. Last year, it was Rutgers that defeated Penn in windy weather. In that race, the Quakers fell behind early and never caught up. Tomorrow, the weather forecast calls for nothing but sun when Penn faces Cornell and Rutgers on Cayuga Lake in New York. "We're focused on ourselves," Quakers coach Carol Bowersaid. According to Bower, the team has been experimenting with different stroke rates so that the Quakers would be able to feel more in sync with each other, a problem that plagued Penn in last week's lost to Northeastern. "We want to concentrate on being together" Bower said. A win against the Big Red would give the Quakers a winning Ivy League record and would greatly improve their ranking. "Cornell is probably the tougher of the two, but we aren't going to underestimate Rutgers," Bower said. In past weeks, Penn has shuffled its lineup from week-to-week, but Bower says that tomorrow she will stick with last week's lineup. – Jon Carrol