M. Crew opens season with Navy Day

With the advantage of August practice, Navy finished ahead of Penn in both major races. Without the presence of senior commodore Nick Tripician, the Penn men's heavyweight crew competed for the first time this fall on Saturday in the Navy Day Regatta. As Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell -- fully decked out in Viking garb to celebrate Leif Ericson Day -- looked on, Penn's varsity heavyweight eight took second to a more experienced Navy crew on the Schuylkill River. Penn finished in 12:58, three seconds behind the Midshipmen. "We are disappointed that we didn't win but we are going to keep on training," Penn senior captain Greg Jenemann said. Quakers coach Stan Bergman echoed the captain's feelings. "You always like to win but it was a real good training day," Bergman said. "Navy is always very strong in the fall." Unlike the Quakers, Navy has been training since August. For that reason, Navy has an advantage at the Navy Day Regatta -- Penn's first competition of the year -- over crews that did not begin training until the start of the school year. Navy Day is the least competitive of the Quakers' three fall "training" races, but it is nevertheless invaluable. The 2 1/2-mile race gives the Penn crew valuable experience before its more important sprint races in the spring. Almost every member of the roster was able to compete on the Schuylkill twice this weekend, with Jenemann, Keith Sutter, Paul Falcigno, Justin Clemow, Bill Ennis, Doug Sieg, Tim Thompson, Lew Goettner and coxswain Mark Redding manning the first boat. Tripician is still training with the team but will not be competing this fall. "He is rowing singles and training on the ergometer," Bergman said. Although Penn was not victorious, Bergman was "impressed by the varsity crew." "There are lots of hearts and guts in that crew," Bergman said. Penn's lightweight eight also finished behind Navy this weekend, rowing a 13:38 to Navy's 13:30. "I thought we did pretty well this weekend," senior commodore Mike Smolenski said. "We're looking at the big picture. Our goal is to win the Eastern Sprints." Both Quakers teams will continue to train on the Schuylkill until their next race, the Head of the Charles, held in Boston on October 24. "We're just going long term with training, getting ready for the next six months," Jenemann said. "We're going to keep on lifting and rowing." Throughout these six months, the Quakers hope to continue to improve on their technique while gaining more experience. Ultimately, their main goal is to win the Eastern Sprints and IRA Championships. "The fall is the fall," Bergman said. "We're getting ready for the spring."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.