W. Crew frosh end fall season at Belly of the Carnegie meet

The Penn freshman women's crew fall season can be summed up in one word -- uneventful. The Red and the Blue ended their fall season this weekend at the Belly of the Carnegie Regatta at Princeton, where the three Penn boats took 8th, 16th and 23rd place. This disappointing result doesn't come as a surprise for a crew that has been struggling through races all season. "Throughout the season we have been having trouble racing," freshman Claire Manske said. "We've been able to practice well but we haven't been able to race well.? I think we just don't have enough race experience." Although lack of experience could have been a factor in this weekend's race, where all the boats were supposed to have been a mix of novice and experienced rowers, lack of experience surely couldn't have been responsible for the Quakers' previous disappointing finishes. The boat that raced in the Head of the Charles was composed entirely of experienced rowers. "I couldn't tell you why we didn't perform well even with experienced people," said Manske, a member of the top freshman eight. "That's especially true of Head of the Charles. I think we lost composure, which is frustrating when everyone in your boat is experienced. I think we were distracted and not focused, which I think was a pretty big problem.? The only thing that solves that is race experience." The team's next regatta is in March, so race experience will be in short supply during the winter season; the team will not even get back on the water until a winter break training trip to Tampa, Fla. For the moment, the team has other ways of preparing for the spring season. "I think that everyone is confident that there is enough talent and that we just need the experience and the time spent training," coach Susan Seybolt said. "Erging, weights and running and running stadiums. Getting the conditioning on the erg [is important]. A lot of people are at the point where their technique's not going to get better until they have the strength to support the stroke." Penn's challenge going into the spring season will be to develop boats that are prepared to race. The shorter spring courses might help the Quakers execute their races more effectively, since most of the experienced rowers had never raced in the three-mile fall format before this year. "It's been a really interesting season since I've never rowed in the fall before," freshman Lulu Sandes said. "I've only done crew as a spring sport so it was really interesting doing head races because I've never done them." No matter what the problems the Quakers may be facing this fall, one thing is certain: the team needs to find its groove on race day. Otherwise, the spring season might end up being just as uneventful as the fall.