Lwt. Crew races to third behind Yale, Columbia

While the Penn lightweight crew team might have lost to Yale and Columbia on Saturday in New York at the Dodge Cup, the Quakers showed major signs of improvement in terms of their racing ability.

"Even though it was a loss, it was making steps in the right direction," junior Jonathan Macknin said. "We're becoming better racers."

The Quakers varsity eight came in third in 6:08.7, behind Yale in 6:04.7 and Columbia, who won the race with a time of 6:01.0. The race was 2000 meters on Orchard Beach in Long Island Sound. The conditions were relatively unremarkable -- although it was rainy and cold, the water was smooth.

While Columbia and Yale jumped out a half-boat length from the start, the Elis and the Quakers spent the majority of the race in a fight for a boat length, with Penn's bow hanging close to Yale's stern. At the same time, Yale and Columbia were even for the most of the race, putting Penn in the difficult position of third for the duration of the race.

"It's never easy to row from behind," sophomore Sean Cronin said.

Still, Penn was able to stay bow to stern and even improve its position on the Elis at one point in the race.

For that reason and others, the Quakers were able to take some positives away from their performance.

"On any given day, all the crews are so good, you just wait to see what the race results are," Macknin said.

While disappointed with their loss, the Quakers have chosen to focus on their improvement.

"I think we get faster with every passing week," Cronin said. "It's feeling better every day."

The entire team is hoping to maintain its weekly improvement, including the lower ranked oats. The junior varsity eight also came in third, and the freshman eight lost to Yale by a second but beat Columbia.

The freshmen were ahead for the first 1500 meters, but Yale was able to push ahead in the final 500 meters of sprinting.

"We've made a lot of improvements," Penn assistant coach John Fife said. "But the result was not what we were going after. We still have to get better, and fortunately, there is room to improve. The league champs are a month away."

The Quakers' goal is to keep improving with every race so they can be at their top performance by the EAWRC Sprints. With that as the ultimate goal, the loss can be converted into a positive experience for the Red and Blue.

"I think it was our best race so far this season," Cronin said. "We were able to put together a solid race, and now we are able to build on it."

And trying to build is what Penn will be doing both in practice and during races for the next month.

"These races are just learning experiences," Fife said. "Great competition forces us to get better."

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