The Penn women's crew team says it is going to national championships this year.
"For us it's not really a matter of if we make it, it's more [a matter of] when we make it," Penn captain Sarah Stevenson said.
Falling just shy of a tournament bid last season, the Quakers are looking to earn a spot in the 2003 EAWRC Sprints.
Already this season the Quakers have proven that they have what it takes. On Saturday, in their first race of the season at the Navy Day Regatta on the Schuylkill River the varsity and freshman boats took first place, while the JV boat placed third.
Though the JV boat finished behind two others, they were only nine seconds behind the first place crew.
The Red and Blue finished ahead of Lehigh, Navy and Rutgers, among others. This bodes well for the upcoming spring season when the Quakers will again compete against these crews.
Penn coach Barb Kirch said the Quakers wanted to "remain competitive in open races with folks that we're going to race in the Spring."
Last year at Navy Day, the Quakers also enjoyed a convincing win. They earned first-place finishes in the Open Four, where they won by a full minute, and in the College Eights, where they won by more than 20 seconds.
With a strong core of rowers and leadership from co-captains Stevenson and Sarah-Jane Irwin, the team is looking to improve upon their 2001-2002 campaign.
Three of the returning members of the Varsity eight earned All Mid-Atlantic honors last year. Irwin, who was named to the All Mid-Atlantic second team, was also a top ten collegiate finisher at the 2001 and 2002 CRASH-B regattas and named a National Scholar athlete by the CRCA.
Stevenson and Kristin Mauks were named to the All Mid-Atlantic first team. Besides these three, the Varsity eight returns coxswain Jessie Reich and Megan Wellington.
Ten returning seniors, a group of feisty underclassmen, and a talented freshman class round out the Quakers' crew. This year's freshman class is the tallest in Quakers' history and their height will no doubt be an asset in the upcoming seasons.
Stevenson observed the freshmen rowers on Navy Day and said, "They looked awesome. They had a steady rhythm."
"We did an excellent job. We proved our depth really well," Stevenson said of the team's performance as a whole. "This weekend was the first test of where we stand and we were extremely pleased."
Next up for the Quakers is the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston this weekend.
