W. Crew looks for first Award Plaque

Looking at the history of the Penn women's crew team, one can see that the results of the Award Plaque are always in the same order-- Princeton, Dartmouth, Penn. The Quakers are looking to change that this Saturday on Lake Carnegie. Since 1993, the results of the varsity eight boats have not changed. However, the Red and Blue are on course to break more traditions, as they did last Saturday by defeating Cornell and Rutgers, to bring home the Raritan Cup for the first time in nine years. "Princeton and Dartmouth are traditionally strong teams. It's exciting to be heading into the weekend trying to beat teams that we never have before in my career here," senior co-captain Loren Berman said. For the seniors, it will be their final regatta, excluding Eastern Sprints and the NCAA Championships, both in May. "As long as we come away knowing we gave it our all with no regrets, I'll be happy," senior Becca Rothman said. Last year, the Quakers' varsity eight finished only 1.2 seconds behind Dartmouth, and this time around they will be heading into the regatta ranked four spots ahead of the Big Green in the EAWRC Coaches Poll. "I want us to make a statement that we've earned our ranking and that it isn't a fluke," Rothman said. The Quakers won't be taking the rankings to heart, however, writing off Dartmouth because of their lower ranking. "We just can't write off a crew," Rothman said. "I've seen it happen where teams write off their opponents and then they lose to them." And the course may pose a challenge to Quakers' boats, but not for the reason some may expect. "It's a tough course because there are no landmarks. We're really going to have to depend on our coxswains to keep us focused," senior co-captain Kealy O'Connor said. Regardless, the Quakers are looking for a strong finish to their solid spring campaign, especially with Sprints approaching. "We'd like to row a solid race, to finish our season on a high note before heading to Sprints," Berman said. Raising the stakes will be the triangle of Ivy rivalries among the teams. Besides the expected Quaker-Tiger rivalry, coach Barb Kirch left the Big Green for Penn, only adding to the motivation of the Red and Blue. "We're ready to go in and earn a big win for her and for ourselves," O'Connor said. The seniors seem to share the same sentiment in what they want to take away from the last Ivy race of their careers. "Ideally, we want to come off the water and be able to be completely satisfied with what we did," Rothman said.

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