Crews finish fall season with victories

After months of seeing more men in spandex and dead birds in the Schuylkill River than the average Penn athlete witnesses in a lifetime, the last of Penn's varsity crews have finished their fall racing season. But it's not like anyone was watching. "Nobody comes to our races," lamented sophomore Dan Khouri. "I don't understand how anybody could resist the chance to see me in spandex." Though they may not receive the crowd support so otherwise prevalent in this exciting sport, Penn's national powerhouse crews finished their season strongly with the Frostbite and Bill Braxton Memorial Regattas this Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Unlike most fall regattas, in which competitors race against the clock for three to four miles, these two regattas incorporated a racing style more traditional in rowing's official spring season. At the Frostbite and Braxton, all crews raced head to head for 2000 and 1500 meters, respectively. The Quakers deftly handled the change in distance, as the varsity lightweights won three races at the Frostbite and posted extremely impressive times. Even more impressive was their showing at the Braxton regatta, where the lightweights -- held to a 160 pound weight limit -- kept up with Temple's considerably bigger entries. Penn's junior varsity entry trailed nationally renowned Temple by only one second, while the varsity lagged only four seconds behind Temple's eight. Reflecting back upon the fall season as a whole, Penn's lightweights were wholly enthusiastic. "We are pulling scores I haven't seen for five years," Penn lightweight coach Bruce Konopka said. "I'm very happy with our progress on the rowing machines. We're strong and fit as an entire team." Like their lightweight counterparts, the heavyweight varsity also finished with a stellar fall season, marked by the return of two-time world champion Garrett Miller to the team after a brief hiatus. At the Frostbite, the varsity crushed perennial foes Temple and Columbia by 10 seconds on the 2000 meter course. A goal of the eight was to keep focused during the middle 1000 meters of the race, which is often a difficult task. "The varsity did a real good job with their base speed," Penn heavyweight coach Stan Bergman said. "And we accomplished another one of our goals by having just about everybody race twice." One athlete who didn't row at all, however, was sophomore standout Doug Sieg, who is temporarily out with a back injury. Senior Greg Jeneman filled in for Sieg at the two-seat position. The heavyweights also dominated the junior varsity event, winning by an open water margin over Temple. Two solid wins in the fours rounded out an impressive hometown showing and capped a stellar season for the heavyweights. All in all, Penn varsity crews continued a tradition of excellence this fall by taking on tough competition and posting excellent results. Though they have five long months of training before their next race, Penn crews can look forward to a promising season ahead. Even if nobody watches.