Lwt. Crew drops all four races at Cornell, looks to regroup

The Penn men's lightweight crew team fell again this weekend in its race for the Matthews-Leonard Cup at Cornell. All five Penn boats finished behind Cornell and Harvard, leaving the Quakers with nothing to show for their effort. The varsity boat finished last in its heat, with a time of 6:02.55. Cornell placed second with a time of 5:57.9, and Harvard won with a race time of 5:50.06. Despite their loss, the Quakers made many improvements in this past weekend's race. The varsity boat finished six seconds faster than last week at Rutgers, and the Quakers agree that their overall performance has improved in many aspects since the fall. "We are faster than we were in the fall," varsity rower Garrett Cameron said. "If we go six seconds faster each race, we'll be flying by the time [Eastern] Sprints come around." Cameron was also happy with the improved race strategy over last weekend's race. Penn didn't go out as quickly in the early going on Saturday and had more energy to finish the race off with improved speed. The second varsity boat also placed last in its heat. The Harvard and Cornell boats collided at the beginning of the race and were allowed to row the race again. The Quakers, however, weren't granted the right to a re-race due to their initial loss to both of the other boats. Many Penn rowers were disappointed with the official's decision not to grant them another chance at the race and blamed it for their defeat. "They didn't allow us to race again," sophomore rower Brendon Tavelli said. "That might have had something to do with our performance." The third varsity boat and the two freshman boats also finished behind Cornell and Harvard. Harvard won in the third heat, and Cornell won in both freshman races. Despite the definitiveness of their most recent loss, the Quakers are trying to remain positive for the rest of their season. "We can't blame ourselves," Penn commodore Michael Smolenski said. "We just need to get out and try as hard as we can every day at practice." The Quakers are also trying to use last weekend's competition as a source for further improvements. Many of the rowers are switching boats for this weekend's race at Columbia, where the Quakers anticipate a tough race against Yale and the Lions. "There are many personnel changes," Tavelli said. "Hopefully they will improve our performance." Included within these personnel changes, the varsity boat will race without one of its strongest rowers, junior Dave Wilson, who will be taking the MCAT. Nevertheless, the Quakers hope for a good race. "We're not throwing the towel in yet," Smolenski said. "We still have a lot of time left in the season."