Crew returns to Schuylkill

Competing in the biggest event of any season is always intense and difficult. But at last weekend's Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, many of the rowing Quakers, both men and women, were just struggling to hold onto their spots in the boats. Battling for positions in the top boat might cause turmoil on some teams, but the Quakers seem to be charting a steady course. Both Penn teams view the spring season as more important, and the internal competition is helping to energize the crews. "It's good that we have four people to row in the last two spots in the boat," women's crew tri-captain Melinda Patterson said. "There's no direct hierarchy yet, but we're working on it." Patterson helped lead the Quakers to an 18th place finish in Boston with a time of 17:08, almost a minute and a half behind the winning time of the Danish national team. Coming into the fall season's second most important race -- this Saturday's Head of the Schuylkill Regatta -- Penn women's rowing coach Barb Kirch has been putting the oars into different sets of hands during this fall season. Since Penn was only able to enter one boat in last week's championship eights on the Charles, Kirch played the hot hands, inserting one freshman and two sophomores into the mix. This week, the Red and Blue will launch three vessels and the entire team will race. "It's a good thing about this weekend that we can run more than one crew," Kirch said. "Last week's crew did a very good job." On the men's side, the Quakers did some shuffling because they were without their top rower, Garrett Miller, who raced with the American national team in Boston. Penn's eight finished 11th in the event. "We're excited to be getting Garrett Miller back," Quaker junior Nick Tripician said. "We'll have more boat speed, more unity. We're all used to each other's stroke and each other's style. We know where to make our moves, where we are at every point in the race." Men's assistant coach Larry Connell said he was happy with the showing at the Charles without key rowers "in the sense that you can see some things are working, and things that can be adjusted to make things work better." The men's crew team is able to adapt to the personnel adjustments quickly. This skill should help the crew this Saturday at Penn's home course on the Schuylkill. "The crew of the boat is established for the most part, only one or two guys will be switched," Tripician said. "It doesn't really affect us because the caliber of rowing that we come from, we're able to adjust. If we can't, then we shouldn't be a varsity team. "It takes a day or two, so we do it early in the week, but six guys will usually stay the same," he added. The eight who find themselves in the water Saturday will be looking to reassert their control of the Schuylkill. In the Navy Day Regatta two weeks ago, Temple's eight edged the Red and Blue by a mere tenth of a second. The Quakers, however, are not concerned with a repeat of that performance. "Temple's not our worry," Tripician said. "They're a good school, but in a sense they got lucky. We hadn't been in the eights until that week. Now we've been preparing for it more." Tripician was quick to assert that "we beat Temple at the Head of the Charles handily, so we don't feel that they'll pose a threat. Brown will be there, and so will Syracuse. They're the big threats, but this should be our week to come out on top." Connell was also confident in the Quakers' chances, saying, "it's good to know that you are close. The crews are ready." Back on the women's side, ominous competition looms in the form of Navy and Michigan. Navy crushed the Red and Blue at the Navy Day Regatta, but the Quakers cut that margin in half at the Charles. Michigan will be a highly talented team, but the Quakers are focusing their attention elsewhere. "It's more Navy than Michigan because Navy beat us in our first race, and that's a surprise for us. If we're looking for teams to beat? that's where our hearts are," said Heather Roehrs, another senior tri-captain. The Quakers are focused on getting the job done now, and they will worry about who is doing the rowing later.