Ivy pair sinks Lwt. Crew on Schuylkill

The Penn men's lightweight crew team went into last Saturday's home race needing a strong performance against two stellar opponents: Harvard and Cornell. What they brought to the Schuylkill, though, was far from a strong performance. The Red and Blue had a bit of an off day, finishing last in all four races, as Penn's Ivy nemeses each walked away from Philly with two wins. "We thought we could do well," Penn head coach Bruce Konopka said. "We never really rowed the way we can row." Penn's varsity eight finished third with a time of 5 minutes, 53 seconds, a full 20 seconds behind the Crimson and eight seconds behind the Big Red. Harvard also took first place in the first freshman eight race, crossing the finish line with a time of 5:53. Cornell finished three seconds behind, while Penn finished in 6:09. The Big Red came in first in the second varsity eight and the second freshman four, in times of 5:49 and 6:59, respectively. In the former race, the Crimson were four seconds behind and the Quakers finished in a time of 6:11. Penn was the only other team in the latter race, finishing in a time of 7:12. Konopka said he was especially pleased with the strong performances put in by the strokers -- sophomore Tevis Jacobs on varsity, sophomore Brian Conley on JV and Bowen Posner for the freshman. The stroker is the first man in the boat. And despite the disappointing performance put forth by the Quakers, Konopka does not view last weekend's race as a giant setback. "The Ivies have some of the top teams in the country," Konopka said. "We just have to get back to rowing well." However, the road will not get any easier for the Quakers. Next Saturday, the Quakers will take to the Schuylkill again to face Ivy foes Yale and Columbia. Last year those two squads were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation, respectively, and neither the Bulldogs nor the Lions lost any members from last year's teams. The race will be an immense challenge for the Red and Blue, but Konopka thinks his lightweight crew team will not only be ready for these national powers, but will embrace the opportunity. "We always want to race against the best," Konopka said. "Our guys are going to be up to this, and we'll see how we do." As for the chances of his team improving on this weekend's outing, Konopka was short and to the point. "I know this wasn't our best performance," Konopka said. "We can do better."

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