Many matches, races, and games are decided solely on an athlete's level of confidence. Winning generates confidence and so does strong team comraderie. The Penn women's crew team has both of these assets heading into its second meet of the season this weekend in Pelham, N.Y.
The Connell Cup Saturday will bear the Quakers toughest competition -- the deep duo of the Yale Bulldogs and the Columbia Lions.
Penn's present confidence can be attributed to last weekend's sweep of Navy and Georgetown, where the Quakers won all four of their races.
"Though we expected to beat both teams, the win was a great one to get under our belt," sophomore Stephanie Foelster said.
"This weekend's results will definitely show us where we stand as a team. We're going to be facing some tough competition, so this should give us a strong indication."
In past seasons the Quakers have boasted a winning record against the Lions, but not so against the Elis.
With two wins to their name, the Quakers are a step ahead of the Elis, who, due to the frozen Housatonic River, didn't take their first strokes until a spring break spent in Florida.
The Elis, however, do boast the top win of their fall season, with their varsity boat winning its race at the Head of the Charles.
Overall they finished only behind the U.S. National team and the Canadian National team in rowing's most acclaimed race -- which brought together over 20,000 rowers from all parts of the world.
The Lions ended their fall season with a 6-4 record, and look eagerly to top Penn this season, a feat they were unable to accomplish in the fall.
This weekend will be Yale's first competition of the spring season, while it is Columbia's second. The Lions -- looking for their first win -- fell earlier in the season to Virginia and Wisconsin.
Coxswain of Penn's third varsity boat, sophomore Dierdre Kelleher is optimistic about this weekend's races, and has served as an essential unifying force for her teammates.
"My job is to keep the girls motivated and up-beat, while keeping the rhythm and line," Kelleher said.
"It's an exciting position, yet a demanding one because I'm also looking at their technique and seeing what we can improve on."
Not only was last weekend a propelling win, but also an initial indicator of where the team can improve.
"I think we could definitely improve on our starts. We need to get off the line faster," Kelleher said.
"If we can do this and really test our limits, we can pull out a great win."
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