Lwt. Crew revels in its undefeated record

Penn has beaten clubs, schools and even national teams this year. "Undefeated" is not a term most people associate with Penn's athletic teams this fall. The Quakers men's freshman heavyweight crew team, however, would challenge that point. Having defeated numerous colleges, clubs, and national teams thus far this season, the Quakers boast titles from the largest, most competitive regattas as they approach their final race this weekend. The Penn rowers started their season with a victory on the Schuylkill at the Navy Day Regatta. Their winning time of 13 minutes, 23.45 seconds began what has been a very successful season. "There's a lot of talent in all our boats," Penn coxswain Hugh Dornbush said. "We really didn't know what to expect from ourselves or the competition this fall, but we're happy with how things are going so far." Next the Quakers traveled to Cambridge, Mass., for the Head of the Charles. In one of the most prestigious regattas of the year, Penn took first place, ahead of Brown, Harvard, Yale and other tough competitors. Penn's time of 15:22.42 secured its first-place finish in front of St. Catharine's Rowing Club by less than a second. "It was awesome," stroke man Keith Sutter said. "The Charles was our biggest victory this fall." Back on their home course again, the Quakers next victory came in defeating such competitive crews as Syracuse, Brown and Princeton at the Head of the Schuylkill. Their winning time in the contest of 31 boats was 13:23.45 "We've got some competition really gunning for us now," Sutter said, referring to Brown and Princeton. The Quakers will see those crews this weekend at the Belly of the Carnegie for their final fall race on November 15. That weekend's events will be slightly different from previous regattas. Each team will enter several boats of eight rather than solely their top boat. The teams' combined times will be counted. "Normally we just enter our top guys, but there's a different emphasis on this race," Penn coach Larry Connell said. "We'll enter two or three boats with the hope that the second and third will improve." While the race marks the end of the fall season, the work is just beginning for the Quakers. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us until spring," Sutter said. "We have a possibility of doing really well, but we have to train all winter if we want to do well in the big races." As for the varsity heavyweights, the next challenge will come in Princeton, N.J., this weekend. Both the men's and women's teams will compete against the rival Tigers crews as well as top competition from the Big 10 in the Princeton Chase, the final regatta of the season.

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