Hwt. Crew to row for position in Maryland

The Penn varsity eight is racing for the Adams Cup and better land position at Eastern Sprints. For the Penn men's heavyweight crew team, the last chance to improve in the EARC rankings before Eastern Sprints will be ridiculously early in the morning and on choppy waters. The Quakers will be forced to navigate the Severn River in Annapolis, Md., at 6:30 a.m. against Harvard and Navy. Penn, which won the regatta last year when it took place on the Schuykill, will race for the Adams Cup against the rival Crimson and Midshipmen. The Red and Blue hope the cup will continue to grace the Penn boathouse for a second consecutive year. After returning this past weekend from the Harlem River in New York with the Blackwell Cup, the varsity eight hopes to begin a win streak as it prepares for one of the more decisive races of their spring season. Much more than a cup is at stake going into this regatta. "This race is a very important test of speed for our crew before Eastern Sprints, and it is probably our last chance to improve our standing in the EARC polls that determine heat and lane draws at Sprints," junior varsity rower Keith Sutter said. The Eastern Sprints, the Ivy League championship regatta, is the culmination of the spring season. With a victory this weekend against the second-ranked Crimson, the fifth-ranked Quakers would not only improve their standings in the polls, but also find themselves in a better position to compete and ultimately win the Eastern Sprints. After losing to Harvard at the San Diego Crew Classic, the Penn men are hoping to take the Crimson by surprise and stun them with their increased boat speed. "We are really getting up for this race because we didn't have the intensity against Yale that we had against Princeton," Penn captain Greg Jenemann said. "Harvard will probably underestimate us because we are ranked lower and they beat us at San Diego. But that will be to our advantage because they'll get snuck by Penn if they take us lightly." After improving by leaps and bounds since their last showdown with the Crimson over the weekend of April 1, the Quakers are ready to show that they have the speed and finesse to win. "The race is at 6:30 a.m., and with Harvard being ranked ahead of us they are probably not expecting too much out of us," Sutter predicted. "So when we are right there or ahead at the thousand meter mark, that's when we really fluster them by taking seats at will." Navy's home waters are notorious for providing crews with less-than-perfect rowing conditions. The Quakers must be prepared to row well together as a single unit if they plan to bring home the cup. "The Severn River is usually choppy and not conducive to racing, so we need to row cleanly and efficiently," Jenemann said. After weeks of intense preparation, the Quakers are ready to do just that. "I am looking forward to this race," Sutter said. "I have never lost the Adams Cup, and I do not plan to start this weekend."

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