Hwt. Crew ready to bury woes of last year

Just missed. Those two words echoed long and hard in the ears of the members of the Penn heavyweight crew team over the course of the past year after the team lost three races by a combined three seconds. The Quakers suffered those narrow defeats at the hands of Princeton at the Childs cup, Northeastern at the Burns cup and by failing to finish in the top six at the IRAs -- a multiple-team championship race -- by the slimmest of margins. "The experience of going through last year has made us a lot stronger," Penn senior commodore Doug Sieg said. "We're faster physically and stronger mentally." Despite these heartbreaking defeats, Penn enjoyed several successes last season -- including wins over Yale, Columbia and Cornell. This year, however, the Red and Blue will not be satisfied with another sixth-place Ivy League finish or a repeat of their seventh-place finish at the season-ending IRAs last year. "Realistically we can win IRAs and sprints," Sieg said. "We've got a strong boat this season." Penn has good reason for optimism, as two frontline rowers return from prolonged absences. Paul Falcigno, who will be on the varsity eight to begin the spring season, missed the entire fall schedule while studying abroad in Italy. And Nick Tripician will rejoin the Penn boat after taking a year off to pursue his Olympic dreams. Even though he did not make the U.S. boat that competed in Sydney, Penn assistant coach Larry Connell recognizes the star senior's value to the team. "Coach [Steve] Bergman and I, we've been at Penn 17 years and he's definitely one of the top half-dozen athletes to ever come through here," Connell said. The coaches and team veterans are optimistic that Tripician can bring more than just his rowing ability to a youthful Quakers squad that needs all the leaders it can find. "We're glad to have him back," Sieg said. "And his leadership and experience will definitely be good for us this year." Tripician and Falcigno will both be on the varsity eight when the team opens this weekend at the San Diego Classic. The other members of that varsity eight boat are coxswain Bill McManus, Mike Parker, Justin Clemow, Harborne Stuart, Tom Paradiso, Sieg and team captain Keith Sutter. Penn enters the San Diego competition ranked No. 8 in the country. The competition at the prestigious event will be exceptionally fierce, as many of the top teams in the country open their season out west. No. 1 California, the two-time defending national champions, enters as the favorite. No. 4 Washington, No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 14 Yale and No. 15 Navy round out the elite field. "We are going in as the underdogs and no one's picked us to do anything," Sieg said. "No one's expecting us and we're in a good position to surprise some crews." Despite the formidable competition the team faces, the Quakers coaches remain confident. "The captain and the commodore, along with Nick [Tricipian], have formed a pretty impressive heavyweight squad," Connell said. Penn is anxious to get started and demonstrate a new ability to win the close races that separate the elites from the also-rans. "Keith and I have set the tone for the season," Sieg said. "We've worked hard for seven months and we're ready to race."

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