M. Crew takes seventh place

This year's Penn men's heavyweight crew team is faster, stronger and tougher than it was last year -- and it's doing everything it can to prove it. The Quakers gave a strong performance in the championship eight race this weekend at the Head of the Charles, finishing seventh in a field of 55 boats and fifth among college crews. "We got stronger all the way through the race, which was what we were looking for," senior varsity coxswain John Whittaker said. "We rowed our race and didn't let any of the 54 [other] entries push us off our game plan, which can sometimes happen in a race like the Head of the Charles." Not only did the Red and Blue get stronger as the race progressed, they boasted the third-fastest time in the last half-mile out of all college competitors. "We had a solid race, but the last mile was definitely the strongest part," senior captain Keith Sutter said. "This race has definitely given us confidence that will carry over to the Head of the Schuylkill, where we are definitely looking to be the fastest college crew out there." Among other highlights, the Red and Blue defeated rival crews from Princeton, Dartmouth and Yale, as well as Dowling, last week's Navy Day nemesis. We avenged our loss to Dowling College by beating them by eight seconds," senior commodore Doug Sieg said. "We also opened up considerable ground on Navy and Temple. Last week we beat Navy by less than a second and this week we beat them by 31." The Quakers aim to spend the week making further adjustments and fine-tuning their technique as they prepare for the upcoming weekend. "We rowed hard, but we can row cleaner," Sieg said. "We are going to continue training in the eight and improve on the results of this past week." With the fall racing season in full swing, the Red and Blue are looking to make further progress on the water to end on a high note before storming into the spring. "Last weekend was just a snapshot of where we stood for one small portion of the season," junior varsity rower Mike Parker said. "Comparing Head of the Charles to Navy Day, there was some serious improvement. Keeping in mind that the season lasts a good nine months, I feel pretty good with our results." This year's performance in Boston was Penn's best since 1997, when the Quakers finished fifth. "We came within 4.9 percent of the winner, which means that we will get an automatic entry for the varsity race next year," Sutter said. "That virtually assures the freshmen a chance to race next year, too." This weekend the team will compete on their home waters once again at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta.

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