W. Crew meets similar foes on Raritan

After several consecutive races against rowing powerhouses, including Northeastern and Georgetown, the Penn women's crew team will face less threatening crews this weekend, as the Quakers race Rutgers and Cornell in New Brunswick, N.J., this Saturday. The three crews that will face off on the Raritan River are all of similar ability levels. In this week's Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Coaches Poll, Penn was ranked No. 12, while Rutgers and Cornell were Nos. 13 and 14, respectively. "Rutgers, Cornell [and Penn] are all ranked together. This weekend is a weekend where we have an opportunity to win," Penn coach Barb Kirch said. "We'll have fairly even crews. We'll see what happens [and] see who puts it together on race day." The Quakers bring a mixed season record with them into this race. So far this season, Penn has triumphed over Yale, Columbia and Drexel. Last weekend, the Quakers varsity eight placed third in a race against Northeastern and Syracuse. Last year, the Scarlet Knights outrowed Penn by six seconds while Cornell edged the Quakers by less than a boatlength. Kirch notes that this year, all three crews are known to be "about the same speed." While this makes it difficult to make predictions about what the outcome will be, the Penn crews are optimistic for the race and have been generally pleased with their rowing performances thus far. "Syracuse beat Cornell and Syracuse only beat us by a boatlength [last weekend]," said freshman Kate Magee, who rows in Penn's varsity eight. "Hopefully we'll pull it out and win." The competition Penn will face this weekend has not fared well in the past two weeks. Last weekend, the Rutgers varsity eight lost to Brown by 11 seconds. On April 3, Princeton overpowered the Scarlet Knights by three boatlengths. The Big Red varsity eight lost to Princeton by 13 seconds and Radcliffe by 12 seconds last week at Princeton. Cornell also lost to Syracuse the week before by nearly a boatlength. Though the Penn varsity eight lost to Georgetown, Northeastern and Syracuse in its last two races, the rowers feel confident about how rowing went in practice this week. "[This week's] practices have been very aggressive," Magee said. "Everything we've done in practice has been focused on beating Cornell." Magee believes that aggressive rowing is a key to winning. "We were aggressive last week," she said. "But we have to be the ones who cross the finish line first and not give anyone else a chance." "[First] varsity knows they raced hard last weekend," Kirch said. "They need to relax a bit and row their own rhythms. [Saturday, the first varsity] is going to work on refining its own rhythm." Penn's second varsity eight is also happy with the way it has been rowing, and with good reason -- the crew is undefeated this season. Jenni Junger, the three-seat in the second varsity, attributes her boat's success to team attitude and determination. "Overall we have a really positive attitude in our boat and that helps us a lot," she said. "We work really hard." This weekend, Junger says her boat -- which is ranked fifth in the EAWRC second varsity poll -- will focus on rowing to a strong finish in the 2,000-meter race. "We're going to try and make the last 500 meters of the sprint better," she said. Penn's freshman boats are also growing stronger. Members of the first freshman eight felt that last week's race against Northeastern and Syracuse was their best performance yet. "The freshman are improving every week, which is what you want to see," Kirch said. To pump themselves up for Ivy enemy Cornell, the Quakers devoured red, C-shaped rice krispies treats at yesterday's practice. Penn's crews are expecting to prove themselves competitive this weekend. "I expect to win," Magee said. "But we have to approach this weekend as a race we have to win."