The Penn men's lightweight crew team has always believed to save its best for last.
This Sunday, the Quakers will culminate their fall season against all 11 schools in the Eastern Sprints League at the Princeton Chase, held at the belly of Lake Carnegie in Princeton, N.J.
"This race is important because it's our last opportunity to get a gauge of where we stand relative to the field," Penn coach Mike Irwin said.
Irwin will send two boats to the Princeton Chase -- the varsity eight and junior varsity eight -- to compete against Ivy rivals such as Yale, Princeton, and Harvard. The Quakers will see these opponents again in much smaller fields during the spring season.
"The [Princeton Chase] is a good basis to build on," Penn junior oarsmen Bowen Posner said. "It represents where we stand going into winter training."
This weekend also marks the Quakers first return to the Princeton Chase in five years. Since none of the oarsmen have participated in the event before, the squad is eager for its first shot.
"All of the oarsmen are pretty excited about the race," Irwin said.
In 1997, the Quakers' first boat placed an impressive sixth out of 45, while the second boat finished 13th.
This year, the Quakers will look to prevent returning champion Yale from winning the event two years in a row. The Elis finished ahead of host Princeton last year with a time of 12:53.
"It's important to be as consistent as possible, which will make the entire team strong," commodore Justin Arena said. "Then we can build upon confidence for the spring season."
The varsity team will take a rest period -- as part of its seven- week break mandated by the league -- during the week immediately following the Chase.
The squad will then resume winter training programs -- which include a trip to Tampa, Fla. in January -- and complete its remaining rest weeks before the season starts again at the end of March.
The freshman lightweight team will compete at a separate event this weekend. On Saturday, the freshman squad will send two boats to the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta in Philadelphia.
The Quakers put up strong finishes at last year's Head of the Schuylkill. While the varsity eights took second and fourth place, the freshman boats finished sixth and seventh respectively out of a field of 46 boats.
Although the varsity squad will not be competing this year, the freshman oarsmen would still like to have an impressive showing.
"We see this as a chance to step it up as a program," freshman oarsman Jaime O'Neill said.
The freshman team will try to compensate for several injuries to key rowers that occurred over the past week.
"It will be tough with some men down, but if we work hard we can have a strong finish," freshman oarsman Michael Karam said.
Unlike the varsity squad, the freshman team will not complete its fall season this weekend. After a week's break, the freshmen will end their fall season on Nov. 10 at the Belly of the Carnegie in Princeton, N.J.
