W. Crew Eight takes 11th on the Charles

The Penn women's varsity eight crew got greedy this weekend at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. Not only did they take back the four-tenths of a second they lost to Navy at the Navy Day Regatta, but they grabbed an additional 25 seconds. "It was a really solid race [in the eight]," Penn senior co-captain Loren Berman said. "I could just feel the focus and intensity. We passed [Kansas] in the first mile; we had that to get us going in the beginning." That intensity continued through the rest of the race, despite windy conditions and the many turns in the Charles River course. The Quakers walked away with an 11th place finish, which was a big improvement over last year's 18th place in the same regatta. "It was a hectic course and a hectic day, but my crew reacted well to everything that was going on," junior coxswain Catherine Eikel said. "[The eight] stepped up and didn't let it get the best of them." Penn prioritized the varsity eight for the Head of Charles, which might explain the varsity four's 21st-place finish. "[The four] lost to Syracuse by .27 seconds so we were in the pack with a lot of schools and the teams were pretty close," senior Margaret Klarberg said. "It's frustrating when everyone is around the same area." The four found itself towards the bottom of the close pack of college crews. "I thought we'd do better than that," Penn coach Barb Kirch said. "I don't really know; I think other schools made the four their first priority. We were all in the same pack together so it's not that bad a performance but I would like to see us a few places higher." The four could get a chance to place higher against its rivals in this weekend's Head of the Schuylkill regatta, which attracts many of the same competitors as the Head of the Charles. The Head of the Schuylkill will be a chance for crews to refine their boats after the Head of the Charles. "We're entered in two eights and a four in the Head of the Schuylkill and I haven't decided which to prioritize, the second eight or the four," Kirch said. As for the first eight, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The freshman eight is a different story. It could use some fixing after a disappointing 24th-place finish at the Head of the Charles. "I haven't really analyzed it per se but it sounded to me like the crew thought it wasn't one of their better rows," Kirch said. "It's probably a matter of experience on the course." The freshman crew will try to gain that experience going into Head of the Schuylkill. "For a lot of us that was only our second time doing a head race," freshman Saskia Gex said. "Haben, our coxswain, was telling us that we were all pulling hard but we weren't pulling hard together. I think we're going to practice a lot more pieces at higher ratings." The varsity eight race is the cornerstone of the women's program, and an 11th-place finish at the Head of the Charles is a definite sign of long term improvement for Penn. Although fall races aren't always good indicators of a crew's success in the more important spring races, the team is optimistic. "If we do well in the fall, we do well in the spring," senior co-captain Kealy O'Connor said. "I would definitely say [this weekend] is a good indication [for this fall]."