SPORTS BRIEF: Thursday, April 1, 1999

Lwt. Crew competes for Matthews-Leonard Cup The first varsity, second varsity and freshman crews will row this weekend in attempts to defeat Cornell and invited guest Harvard. "Both Harvard and Cornell look real strong," Penn coach Bruce Konopka said. "Cornell has some real strong guys, just looking at ergometer scores and results." The Matthews Cup is named after Penn's first lightweight crew coach, James Matthews, and is awarded to the winner of the Penn-Cornell first-varsity race. The Leonard Cup is awarded to the winner of two out of the top three overall races -- first and second varsity and first freshman -- between Penn and Cornell. Harvard's status as an invited guest prevents them from actually competing for the Matthews or the Leonard cups. While the Matthews-Leonard Cup began competition in 1954-55, Harvard first made its appearance in 1987. Last year, Penn's first varsity boat came in third, 19.5 seconds behind Harvard and 6.9 seconds behind Cornell. Konopka made a lineup change in the first varsity boat this week, moving senior Alex Muniz into the stroke seat in place of sophomore Matthew Morano, who will take Muniz's seat. "Sometimes changing one or two guys gives the boat a different feel," Konopka said. -- Sebastian Stockman