Lwt. Crew falls to another top 10 team

The Penn lightweight crew team dropped its sixth straight race last Saturday, as the Quakers fell to No. 3 Princeton on the Schuylkill River. With the win, the Tigers were able to hold the Wood Hammand Cup for the 22nd consecutive year. "They've got a real strong program there," Penn coach Bruce Konopka said. "They're in the top three every year." With the loss, the No. 10 Quakers fell to 0-6 on the season. Penn finished with a time of 6:10 -- five seconds behind Princeton. However, the margin was within a boatlength the entire race before the Tigers pulled away late. "Everybody gets up for Princeton, so it's real tough to lose," Penn junior Matt Courtin said. "But we showed we're ready to step up and challenge anybody." The second varsity eight and the two freshman eights also fell short against their rivals. Despite these setbacks, the Quakers see signs of a turnaround in the defeat. "It was a boost to our confidence, as Princeton's supposed to be one of the top boats," Penn junior commadore Brian Conley said. "It proved to us that our training of building up toward the end of the year is working." "We raced with good intensity even though we lost," Courtin added. Despite its poor record, Penn has maintained a top ranking, as most of its competition has been in the top 10. "I'm definitely sensing improvement," Konopka said. "We've had a lot of fun trying to achieve a goal and we're starting to see results. "But we're dying for a win." The team is not overly concerned with its poor showing in the standings to date, as the Ivy League champion is not determined until EARC Sprints on May 13. Instead, Penn continues to look for steady improvement from its veteran squad. "I like the progress we've made and we continue to pick up some speed," Konopka said. "We'll definitely be at our top speed coming into Sprints." This Saturday, the Quakers yet again face a higher-ranked opponent in No. 6 Navy. However, the team remains unfazed. "You can't look at that too closely," Courtin said. "That they're a couple of spots higher than us is unimportant. They're still vulnerable."

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