The Penn lightweight crew captured the Wood-Hammond Trophy by beating Princeton for the first time since 1978 Saturday on the Schuylkill River.
"We were in third place until the last 500 meters," Penn lightweight coach Mike Irwin said.
"We found a way to get through and came from behind to beat Princeton. That's a sign of a crew that has a lot of fight in it."
Although Georgetown won the race with a time of 6:00.0, the Hoyas were not in the running for the trophy. The Quakers crew finished in 6:01.3, beating the Tigers by 2.1 seconds.
"For [the varsity eight] to break a streak 27 years old is significant," Irwin said.
"We recognize the importance of getting ahead of Penn's biggest rival," he added. "It's an important step in putting the program back on top of the Ivy League."
Penn's second varsity finished third, in 6:17.5, behind Princeton and Georgetown. The Red and Blue novice team earned second place with a time of 6:29.4, beating the Hoyas. The Orange and Black freshmen won in 6:13.3.
On the women's side, Penn's varsity four beat Princeton and Dartmouth on the Connecticut River in Hanover, N.H., on Saturday to continue its undefeated streak this season. Kathryn Keate, Megan Stinson, Emily Buzzell and Krista Jackson joined coxswain Maria Leonetti to finish in 6:41.7, ahead of the Tigers' 6:46.7 and the Big Green's 6:54.8.
"It's not often that we get an undefeated regular season," Penn women's coach Barb Grudt said. "It was really great."
The ninth-ranked Quakers varsity eight finished third in 6:02.2, behind the No. 1 Orange and Black and the 10th-ranked Big Green. The second varsity eight finished second in 6:16.1 and pulled away from Dartmouth in a race that Grudt called tenacious.
For the heavyweight men, the Quakers finished third overall in the Adams Cup on the Schuylkill River. The varsity eight finished in 6:04.1, behind Harvard and Navy. The Red and Blue novice team fell by 2.1 seconds to Harvard, which was in the top spot while the second varsity finished third in 6:05.9 behind Navy and Harvard.
The heavyweights will next be in action on the water May 8 in Boston for the Burk Cup while the lightweights will travel to Annapolis, Md. the same day. Next up for the women's crew is the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Sprints on May 15 in Camden, N.J.
