M. Crew fails to capture the Adams Cup

The proverbial monkey remains. The Quakers failed to extricate man's closest evolutionary cousin from their backs as they attempted to capture their first cup of the spring racing season. Both varsity crews finished second. The heavyweights ventured northward to challenge Harvard and Navy for the Adams Cup on the Charles River in Boston, Mass. The varsity eight hoped to defeat the Crimson and Midshipmen as they prepare for the stretch run of their season. The race on the Charles began at the point of the river known as the Basin with excellent water conditions for the Saturday morning regatta. Penn came off the line well at a stroke rating of 48 and soon settled at a 38. At the 1,000 meter mark, the crews passed underneath a bridge and at 1,250 meters the race was still close, with the Red and Blue holding a slight lead over Harvard. Further behind was the Naval Academy, which never really challenged. "We had a lot of pace and a lot of rhythm," seven-seat Nick Tripician said. "It was our best 1,350 meters." With 700 meters to go, Harvard began to make a move. They powered past the Quakers and opened up a lead of about three-fourths of a length. Penn was unable to sprint even and Harvard crossed first with a time of 5:43.5. Penn's resolute "black beauty" finished in 5:47.6 and Navy came in at 5:54.5. Penn's heavyweight, second varsity finished third, 10 seconds off first-place Harvard's pace. The freshmen did much better, with victories in both the first freshmen and second freshmen races. The first freshmen used a strong final sprint to outrace Navy, winning by a mere three-tenths of a second, 6:11.1 to 6:11.4. The heavyweights take this weekend off and will then race Northeastern for the Burk Cup -- which is named for Penn's legendary rower and coach Joe Burk -- the following week. Afterward, Penn ends its season with the country's two biggest races, Eastern Sprints and the nation's championship, the IRAs. In the interim, Penn coach Stan Bergman continues to experiment with line-ups, trying to squeeze more speed from his oarsmen. Last week, the Quakers rowed a bucket and now Bergman has been trying a starboard stroke in practice, looking to shave off those last few seconds. "Cup races are just warm-ups for Sprints and the IRAs," Penn sophomore Nicholas Tripician said. "We are trying to blend out power, as we're one of the strongest programs in the country, with ratio and rhythm. If we do, it could be scary." The lightweights also continue to search for speed as they too break for the weekend before finishing with the Callow Cup against Navy, Eastern Sprints and the IRAs. Last weekend, the lightweights traveled to Princeton and raced for the Wood-Hammond Cup. All four crews finished behind the Tigers. The varsity eight came the closest with only eight seconds separating the boats, as Princeton had a final time of 6:18.7, compared to Penn's 6:26.4. The lightweights continued to seat race this week during practice and hope to make improvements before challenging for possible gold medals at season's end.