The Summer Pennsylvanian
After an encouraging spring season that featured a first-place finish at the Lev-Brett Cup for the first time since 1997, the Penn lightweight crew team posted some of its strongest results in the past decade last weekend at the 2005 Eastern Sprints held at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.
The varsity eight finished in sixth place overall?its best performance since 1993. After placing third in their heat with a time of 5:45.219, the Quakers' varsity lightweight eight was invited to the Grand Final. Last year, the varsity eight did not record as fast of a time in its heat and was relegated to competing in the Petite Final.
Although the varsity eight finished last in the Grand Final, its earlier finish still allowed Penn to finish sixth overall.
Harvard captured the Grand Final with a time of 5:40.567. The Yale varsity eight finished less than three-tenths of a second behind the Crimson, with a time of 5:40.791. Cornell and Navy rounded out the top four finishes on the day.
The Quakers' second varsity eight boat actually finished higher than its counterpart in the Grand Final, placing fourth with a time of 5:55.889. It was the highest finish for Penn's second varsity eight boat in eight years. Last year, the second varsity eight placed first in the Petite Final, but did not register a sufficient time to qualify for the Grand Final.
In last weekend's heat, Penn's second varsity eight finished in second place, barely edging out Navy by five-tenths of a second in a photo finish. The Midshipmen would get their revenge, however, as Navy's second varsity eight finished four seconds ahead of Penn in the Grand Final.
While Cornell placed first in the Quakers' heat, the Big Red ended up finishing second to Harvard in the Grand Final.
The lightweight freshman eight finished 11th overall after placing fifth in the Petite Final with a time of 5:48.437. Cornell placed first in the Petite Final while Navy finished first in the Grand Final and captured the lightweight freshman eight title.
Penn's novice eight finished much better in the Heavyweight Division at Easterns. The freshman eight finished first in its heat with a time of 5:52.183, holding off second-place Princeton by two-tenths of a second. In the Grand Final, the freshman eight placed fourth, finishing with a time of 5:45.368. The Quakers' finish was the best since 1997, when the novice eight won the Grand Final.
The heavyweight second varsity eight finished ninth overall after placing second in the Petite Final. Boston University was the only school to finish ahead of the Quakers in the Petite Final, as the Terriers finished four seconds ahead of Penn.
The Heavyweight varsity eight captured the Third Level Final to finish 13th overall. The Quakers were relegated to the Third Level Final after finishing a disappointing fifth in its heat.
While the lightweight crew team has only the International Rowing Association Championships left on its schedule, the Penn heavyweight squad will challenge Cornell for the Madeira Cup May 22 on the Schuylkill River.
The IRAs are scheduled for June 2-4.
