Schuylkill set to be colored Orange

Though the Penn women’s rowing team may not be facing off against traditional rivals tomorrow, expect some fireworks on Boathouse Row.

Penn’s opponents in the Orange Challenge Cup on the Schuylkill River, Northeastern and Syracuse, are not only outside of the Ivy League, but they aren’t members of the Big Five either. Nor are they nationally ranked.

Nonetheless, Penn coach Mike Lane promised a challenging contest with major implications for the rest of the Quakers’ season.

“This is probably the most competitive race of our year, in terms of how close we’re going to all be,” he said. “Traditionally, this race is determined by a few seconds from first to third.”

The time difference was a mere five seconds in the varsity eight race last year when Syracuse claimed the Orange Challenge Cup.

In addition to looking to win back that trophy, Penn seeks to shake up the rankings in its regional league, the Eastern College Athletic Conference. According to Lane, Penn, Northeastern and Syracuse have historically been ranked between fifth and ninth.

“Coming out of this race is a great indicator of where we’re going to be as we’re going into our championship,” Lane said.

One surefire good omen for the Eastern Sprints would be a victory in tomorrow’s varsity eight race, which has eluded the Red and Blue since 1995.

The team has learned from its defeats by No. 1 Yale two weeks ago and has identified the issue that may prove decisive this time.

“With Yale and Columbia we had a nice smooth [finish],” co-captain Liz Donald said. “We’re trying to move that shift in power, shift in rhythm to the beginning of the race.”

Thanks to improved starts in their practices, the team hopes the catch-up battles that characterized Penn’s season opener may be avoided altogether.

However, Northeastern has one asset that could negate the Quakers’ home water advantage — coach Joe Wilhelm is a Penn alum.

After graduating in 1982 Wilhelm founded the Columbia women’s program before embarking on his twelve-year stint with the Huskies. In February, he was appointed to the NCAA Division I Women’s Rowing Committee.

Regardless of the result, tomorrow’s race will be memorable for the Penn seniors, as they race on the Schuylkill for the last time.

This is coxswain Lexi Caffrey’s fourth year in the second varsity boat, which has reason to expect a successful morning.

“We’ve won every time [in this race], so I plan to continue that streak,” she said.

Lane knows the Quakers will be racing against well-prepared Northeastern crews and that his rowers cannot afford to repeat any of their mistakes from two weeks ago.

“I think there’s always that added extra fire when you’re a coach going against your alma mater, so that crew always shows up at this race … with an added sense of determination,” he said.

“They’re going to be scratching tooth and nail for that victory [tomorrow].”

While the women race on the Schuylkill, the No. 17 men’s heavyweight team heads to Pelham, N.Y., to take on No. 7 Princeton and No. 13 Columbia in the battle for the Childs Cup, while the lightweight team will face off against Harvard and Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., for the Matthews-Leonard Cup.

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