W. Crew faces Rutgers, Cornell

The Penn women's crew team is hoping for good weather this weekend after last Saturday's regatta against Northeastern and Syracuse was cut short due to poor weather conditions.

The Quakers will face Rutgers and Cornell this Saturday in Ithaca, NY.

The team is looking to continue their streak of strong performances by knocking off the Scarlet Knights and the Big Red and to gain momentum going into their culminating race -- the EAWRC Sprints on May 12.

"The season isn't over until Sprints," Penn junior Sarah-Jane Irwin said. "That's what we're working towards."

This weekend, the Red and Blue will take on the water of Lake Cayuga with added confidence.

Both Irwin, Penn's varsity anchor, and Quakers' junior Kristen Mauks have experience with this particular course. Irwin and Mauks both rowed in Ithaca this past summer in the Pre-Elite Selection Camp for the National Team.

Last year in this race, the Quakers lost to Rutgers and beat Cornell.

With additional experience under their belts and a second place finish to Northeastern in last weekend's race, the team is anticipating a strong performance this year.

"We're all pretty comparable in standings right now, but we feel very confident and excited to prove what we can actually do," Irwin said.

Despite obvious potential, Penn is still looking for a break-out race to prove itself as a competitive power in the water.

"The team has such incredible athletes it's just a matter of finding individual things to tweak in each boat and with individual people so the boat will get faster," Irwin said.

The second varsity boat is coming off a long break after the weather caused their race to be cancelled in Boston last weekend.

The squad is looking to notch a second win after beating Navy in the first regatta of the season.

"We're especially up for the challenge," Penn sophomore Emily Davis said. "We've had time to work a lot of things out."

Overall, the Quakers' goal is to have success in the next two regattas and go into Sprints with confidence.

"What really matters is Sprints," said Irwin. "It all comes down to May 12."

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