It was not smooth sailing for the Penn women's crew team in its first race of the season -- not with icy temperatures, harsh winds and choppy waters on the Schuylkill River.
The weather was so intolerable that the coaches of the three competing teams -- Penn, Navy and Georgetown -- decided to call off the race and resort to three-minute scrimmages instead of the usual 2000 meters.
Yet, the severe conditions were not enough to slow down the Red and Blue in the abbreviated action. Penn's varsity eight boat rowed past the competition for a win in all three parts of the multi-part scrimmage. The junior varsity eight and the novice boats also fared well, with the novice B boat winning two out of three.
"The conditions were rough," Penn freshman Melia Mingle said. "But we really pulled through."
While pulling through despite the weather was an admirable feat for the Quakers, this is not a team that is short on experience. Penn has a proven track record of success in kinder conditions winning all of its races in the fall season and placing fourth in an international competition.
"It all has to do with hard work and dedication," Megan Wellington, who is the only freshman competitor on the varsity eight boat, said. "And the fact that we are committed to getting to the NCAA."
Before qualifying for the NCAAs, the Quakers are hoping for a win at sprints this year --where they will have a chance to bring home the highly-prized Class of '91 plate. The plate is usually awarded to the winning squad in the varsity eight Penn-Navy-Georgetown race. The Red and Blue has won the plate for the past 10 seasons.
But since last week's meet was rendered an exhibition, the coaches of the three teams agreed to decide the winner of the tri-match based on each team's finish at the EAWRC Sprints Championship on May 12.
For now, the Red and Blue are simply looking forward to next weekend's race in New Haven, Conn., when they will go up against Yale and Columbia for the Cornell Cup.
"I am really excited for this race because I would love to see where we are at compared to the other teams," Wellington said.
Compared to other teams -- if races were decided in terms of confidence -- the Quakers would surely come out ahead.
"I know we are really going to kick butt this season," Mingle said.
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