Lwt. Crew: Second varsity leads way at Sprints

What pressure?

The Penn lightweight crew team responded in its penultimate race last weekend with three boats posting impressive time at the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Sprints, held in Worcester, Mass.

"Both varsity boats had their best performances of the season in the finals," Penn head coach Mike Irwin said in a press release.

"It was very rewarding to see them beat crews that had been ahead of them earlier in the season and improve upon their ranking within the league.

"We were able to put our best foot forward in the event that is most important, which has been our goal all season."

The Quakers' second varsity eight boat led the charge over the weekend, winning the Petite Final, good for seventh overall, in 6:45.66.

Ranked No. 9 in the EARC poll before the race, the Quakers defeated Dartmouth and Columbia on the way to the top spot in the Petite Final.

The first varsity eight boat finished second in its Petite Final in 6:47.76, good for eighth overall. Princeton took the Grand Final in 6:28.49.

The Penn freshman boat also was successful on Lake Quinisigamond, placing third in its respective Petite Final and ninth overall with a time of 7:00.52.

EARC Sprints is the annual championship race among 11 schools -- Penn, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, Georgetown, MIT, Rutgers and the Naval Academy.

Following a two-week layoff, the Quakers head back to the waters at the end of the month for the final race of the season, the Intercollegiate Racing Association Championships.

The IRAs represent the oldest collegiate rowing championship in the country, with a tradition that carries back to 1895 -- coincidently the same year another famed sporting tradition began, the Penn Relays.

The Quakers will be facing approximately 60 colleges and 1,100 rowers at this year's event, held annually on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.

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