Lwt. Crew returns to friendly Schuylkill to face Princeton

The Penn lightweight crew team is back on its home river this weekend to race against Princeton. The Quakers will take on the Tigers at approximately 10 a.m. on the Schuylkill River for the Wood-Hammond Trophy. Although the race will take place three hours later in the morning than their last race, which was against Yale and Columbia, it looks to be just as challenging.

"Princeton is one of the top teams in the country," sophomore Mike King said. "They have a lot of fast guys."

Princeton finished near the top last year at the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Sprints, placing second in the grand final -- and prospects for the Tigers this season look just as good. Princeton is currently expected to place third for both the varsity eight and junior varsity eight and first in the freshman eight, according to the April 15 EARC Poll, which is compiled by all the coaches in the league. Eight of 11 teams voted.

The Quakers, on the other hand, are ranked 10th in varsity eight and eighth in junior varsity eight. Penn's best ranking comes from the freshman eight, which is ranked fourth.

Still, in EARC, neither the polls nor the regular season record has any effect on what really matters -- the final results at Sprints.

"The poll is a way to put order to the regular season, which is sort of like a round robin of racing," coach Mike Irwin said.

At Eastern Sprints, all boats race in an initial heat and then either in the grand or petite final. While a good ranking in the polls usually ensures teams of better spots in their first heat, the top three crews from each initial heat earn a spot in the grand final.

Therefore, at Eastern Sprints, all that really matters is a team's performance in those two particular, key races.

The race this weekend will be another opportunity for the Penn team to compare itself against one of the crews it will have to outrace at Sprints if it wants to medal in the grand final.

"This [race] is not any different than any other week," Irwin said. "We want to go out this weekend and make that next level of improvement."

The Wood-Hammond Trophy race will be a good measure of the progress the Red and Blue have been making this season, the Penn teams have raced against some of the same competition earlier this year.

Last weekend, Princeton raced Rutgers and Cornell, beating both teams by about 10 seconds, as opposed to the Quakers, who lost to both teams by a margin of about seven seconds. Princeton beat Columbia by only one second but the Quakers lost to Columbia by about four seconds.

Though the times may seem overwhelming, a positive mental outlook prevails among the Penn team members.

"We're going into this race just like we have been going into every race so far -- with optimism and increasing confidence," King said.

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