Lwt Crew still without a win

Maybe the varsity eight on the Penn lightweight men's crew team needs a lesson from the freshmen.

For the third time in three races, Penn's varsity boat failed to capture first place in its event.

Conversely, it was the Quakers' first freshman boat that took home its third win of the season.

With the loss in the Matthews-Leonard Cup, Penn not only failed to claim its first win in the race since 1987, but also finished a disappointing third.

In a mild surprise, Cornell beat Harvard by a convincing 11 seconds for first place in the varsity competition.

"Looking at the race we were right there with our competition through," said Penn senior Brian Conley, a member of the varsity boat. "But we still lost the Cup."

For Conley the loss was especially tough to take given that he had hoped to return the Cup to the Quakers in his final time competing in the Matthews-Leonard race. But for the fourth time in his Penn career, his team fell short.

"Being a senior it was my last real shot to bring back the Cup," Conley said. "But we just couldn't get it done."

Penn's chances at getting it done were dealt a serious blow when Cornell exploded out of the start for an early lead.

Despite the Quakers' feverish attempts to get back in the race, it was a gap they would be unable to close, finishing nine seconds behind the Big Red.

"We just weren't expecting them to jump out as quickly as they did," Conley said. "When they got out to that lead it kind of took us out of our race."

One team that certainly didn't get taken out of its race was the Penn freshman boat.

While the freshmen trailed the race initially, they were able to rally behind a strong mid-race push.

Penn ended up capturing the race with a time of 6:00.1 -- over two-and-a-half seconds over second-place Cornell.

Harvard took third with a time of 6:03.9.

"It was a pretty boring race overall," Penn freshman Nate Ongley said. "After a quarter of race we were ahead, and we were just able to hold them off."

The first freshman boat was able to hold off its foes with a time that bettered the varsity boat's finish by 0.6 seconds.

But still the insatiable freshmen were not content with their efforts.

"It wasn't the greatest race we've ever had," Ongley said. "We weren't really together as a boat.

"It was basically just eight guys trying to pull as hard as they could."

Eight guys who couldn't pull hard enough to win on Saturday were in the Quakers' junior varsity boat.

Much like the first varsity boat, a slow start signalled Penn's doom, as they finished third by nearly 22 seconds behind Cornell.

"We didn't do as well as we could have," Penn senior Matt Keegan said. "We got jumped from the start and lost a lot of seats."

Both Penn's third varsity boat and second freshman boat finished third in their respective events.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.