Hwt. Crew captures Madeira Cup

Penn's varsity eight boat downed Cornell for the 16th time in the last 17 years to keep the trophy. The Madeira Cup -- given each year to the winner of the Penn-Cornell heavyweight varsity eight race -- seems to have a permanent place in the Quakers' trophy case. Penn has relinquished the Cup only once since 1983. And this year was no different. Penn (6-1, 5-1 Ivy League) steamed by Cornell (3-5, 0-3) in convincing fashion Saturday on the Schuylkill River, outrowing the Big Red from the start. The Quakers finished in 5:55.91, almost 10 seconds ahead of Cornell (6:05.19). "We've always had success against [Cornell]," Penn senior captain Greg Rauscher said. "But we've worked really hard this week so it's been rough on everybody. We were just really tired [on Saturday]." While the fatigued varsity eight crew still managed an easy win over the Big Red, the hard training was too much for the second varsity eight to handle. Penn lost its second varsity race by just 2.65 seconds to Cornell. "I take the blame for the loss," Penn coach Stan Bergman said. "We really trained hard this week and the guys were just tired." Cornell, meanwhile, used their fresh lightweight eight in the second varsity race. The Big Red lightweights responded by rowing more than four seconds faster than their heavyweight counterparts. In the freshman race, Penn was again saddled with a loss, as Cornell won by nearly 10 seconds. "Cornell has a really good freshman crew," Bergman said. "But our guys are just struggling." Penn's open four, a combination of varsity and freshmen rowers, had some success on Saturday, as the boat defeated Cornell, 6:57.00 to 7:00.55. The Quakers' crew was largely inexperienced -- none of the four rowers or the coxswain had raced prior to this season. The Big Red were victorious in the two other four-man boats -- one by a blowout and one by a very close margin. While Cornell's varsity four without coxswain destroyed Penn by more than twelve seconds, the Big Red varsity four won by just 1.1 seconds. "Cornell got out to open water early [in the varsity four race], but we came back," Bergman said. "We caught a little bit of a crab and that probably lost it for us in the end," referring to when a rower's oar extends too deep in the water, causing the boat to stop momentarily. The Quakers will finish their season this weekend at the IRA national championships at Cooper River in Camden, N.J., today through Sunday. The three-day meet features some of the best crew teams in the country. Penn is currently ranked fifth in the United States Rowing National Collegiate Coaches poll and finished fourth at IRAs last year, but Penn coach Stan Bergman is not just concerned about a high place for his varsity eight squad. "We want to have our best race of the season [at IRAs]," Bergman said. "If that gives us the gold, fine. If that gives us seventh place, fine." Still, Penn is looking to pull off an upset victory. California and EARC Sprints champion Princeton will be tough for the Quakers to catch, but Penn should be in a competitive race with Brown, Washington and Wisconsin -- numbers three, four and six, respectively -- for the next four places. The Cooper River course is no stranger to the Penn crew, as the IRAs have been in New Jersey for the last six years. "It's a great course," Rauscher said. "It's straight -- no turns, no currents and the water's almost always flat." Penn's lightweight crew will also compete at IRAs. The Quakers are ranked ninth after their ninth-place finish at Sprints three weeks ago.

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