Freshmen usually don't get a chance to compete in rowing's varsity championship races.

But at yesterday's Head of the Charles Race in Boston, the men's freshman four was given a chance to shine on the water and finished ninth out of 21 teams with a time of 17:11.35.

First-place U.S. Rowing Training Center finished in 15:57.34.

"We wanted to reward them by taking them to this event because they have been doing a good job," coach Fred Honebein said. "They were put into an event that was going to be very hard for them to win."

The Varsity 8 wasn't as successful, placing 24th of 37, behind Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Yale and Columbia.

"With the things we chose to do this fall, we wouldn't see the short-term gains in the Eight," Honebein said. "We decided to do a lot of pair racing in the beginning of the season, which will pay off later on."

The University of Washington won the race with a time of 14:28.087, more than one minute ahead of Penn.

"You get to see where everyone is, but there is still some time for things to change.," Honebein said. "The conditions were just bad."

Last year, the men finished in 15:04.85, 19th of 44 boats. The difference this fall, Honebein said, was the four national team-level boats in the race.

The women also participated in the Head of the Charles, coming in 17th out of 38 competitors, a 13-place improvement over last year. Nonetheless, the Quakers still finished behind Yale, Brown and Princeton.

The women did not race in the Championship Fours.

The Quakers' lightweight representatives finished in 15:30.94, 13th of the 21 squads. Princeton won the race with a 14:46.75; Harvard, Yale and Columbia also finished ahead of Penn. Despite the tough conditions, the lightweight men were only a few seconds off their time from last year.