The men's lightweight rowing season is one filled with familiar races and familiar faces: the Navy Day Regatta, the Head of the Charles, the Princeton Chase, the Callow Cup - all year-in, year-out events. But this season brings a less familiar foe to the water: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The men's lightweight rowing season is one filled with familiar races and familiar faces: the Navy Day Regatta, the Head of the Charles, the Princeton Chase, the Callow Cup - all year-in, year-out events. But this season brings a less familiar foe to the water: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Off the court, senior Julia Koulbitskaya and sophomore Kate Kosminskaya are quiet, reserved and calm. But on it, they're fierce and aggressive, according to coach Mike Dowd. Yesterday, the NCAA officially announced what Dowd and the Quakers already knew: The two women from Moscow are heading to Tulsa, Okla.

John Gallagher is man enough to admit to crying. He cried when he left Hartford last month, along with nine members of the basketball team he was leaving behind. But that was quickly tempered by the knowledge that he would be returning to his Philadelphia roots, not to mention taking a small step up the college basketball ladder.

Late recruit to join Miller's squad Better late than never. Larry Loughery probably agrees. The Philadelphia Daily News reports that the 6-foot-6, 210-pound senior at the Academy of New Church - who previously played for St. Joseph's Prep - has gained admission to Penn and will play for men's basketball coach Glen Miller.

Exacting revenge on the undefeated No. 1 team in the nation might be rewarding enough, but after doing that Sunday, the women's lacrosse team got an extra prize yesterday morning. In the newest Inside Lacrosse Women's Media Poll, the Quakers (13-1, 7-0 Ivy) garnered 193 points, good enough for their first-ever No.

It's hard to miss the Penn Relays. Last weekend, hundreds of the top track and field athletes in North America descended upon West Philadelphia, lining the streets with yellow schoolbuses. The smell of Jamaican beef patties and other sidewalk treats wafted contagiously through the air as throngs of tourists and team supporters crowded Penn's campus to take in the sights.

Luis Yanez and Kimdo Bethel are pictures in contrast. Yanez is a 5-foot-3, 106-pound 19-year-old, who, at first glance, looks about as threatening as a lapdog. Bethel, a thick 200-some pounds, has biceps as large as logs and cuts an imposing figure even when sitting down.

Sometimes a goal is worth more than one point and a save is worth more than one off the board. That was the case Sunday, when the now top-ranked Penn women's lacrosse team used a late first-half goal by Allison Ambrozy and a crucial save by Sarah Waxman to stay within two goals of then-No.

Amid such a trying season, the men's heavyweight rowing team is looking past its competition against other teams and instead focusing on personal improvement. And after losing to top teams like Harvard, Navy and Northeastern in the Adams and Burk Cups, that attitude has never been more crucial to the development of the program.

The girls from the high school relay team returned to their seats, pictures in hand. They had no idea who Jeremy Wariner was, but damn, was he hot! Wariner was the only runner at this year's Penn Relays to run 400 meters in under 44 seconds. He was also the only one to hold an autograph session, signing photos that bore his Adidas endorsement.

If the men's lacrosse team had any prayer of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, Towson shot down those dreams. Eighteen times, to be exact. The Quakers struck first on Saturday, taking a 3-1 lead in the first quarter, but their opponents sealed the victory by halftime with a 10-1 run.

The last four times the women's lacrosse team faced Northwestern, the scores were 13-6, 17-8, 13-4 and 12-2 all in favor of the Wildcats. But yesterday the No. 5 Quakers reversed three years of futility against Northwestern, earning a huge upset 11-7 over the Wildcats at Franklin Field.

In getting two wins over Columbia this weekend, freshman Jessie Lupardus did not just shatter the program mark for victories and strikeouts in a single season: She also won more games (19) than any Penn softball team did from 1974-2006. It was all part of a record-setting weekend for the Quakers.

The last thing the Quakers wanted to do was count themselves out. Then, just like that, they were forced to. After dropping the first of its four-game set with Columbia, 5-4 on Saturday, Penn's faint hopes of forcing a playoff with the Gehrig Division-leading Lions were dashed, to be replaced with the inevitability of a season that was more of a learning experience than a winning one. The Quakers had needed a sweep (and then some) to prolong their season.

Penn senior Tim Kaijala remembers track coach Charlie Powell sending him out on the last day of the Penn Relays four years ago. Kaijala was to be the anchor of the Quakers' 4x800-meter team. "It was the most nervous I've been in my whole life," he recalled after this year's Relays.