Everyone is in sync on W. Rowing

There are no stars on the Penn women's rowing team - and that suits head coach Mike Lane just fine.

"The New England Patriots have a 'one-team' motto and so do we," he said.

Lane added that this year's team has more depth and more intensity than previous years'.

However, the upperclassmen no longer rule the boat. The Varsity 8 is not composed of mainly seniors, as it once was. It now has three freshmen and a sophomore. Lane said that inexperience is one of the team's weaknesses.

To replace the graduating seniors, the women's program recruited a stronger freshman class, including Carey Sloane, Liz Donald and Rebecca Donald. With all the new faces, the intensity has escalated.

"We have a lot of kids pushing each other," said Lane. "We have a level of competition within the team this year that we did not have last year."

The Quakers are planning on using this new drive to win today's races against Saint Joseph's.

"My expectations are pretty simple; I hope to execute the race the way we practice," Lane said. "It is a good opportunity for us to race a team we have never seen in an official spring race."

The Hawks have had boats ranked in the top 20 nationally and will be a strong adversary.

The Red and Blue's goals of having each boat in the Grand Finals and gaining an NCAA invitation at the end of the season seem reasonable. Based on last weekend's results - the Varsity 8 came in second out of five, while the Varsity 4 won its race - this year's team has already outperformed last year's.

"Quite simply, this year we are going out there to take care of business," Lane said.

Although the Quakers are stronger this year, other Ivy programs may still overpower them. This season, Yale has been ranked No. 1, while Princeton has been in the top 10 and Dartmouth in the top 20.

"Our goal is to be in the top half of the Ivy League," Lane said. "If we are there, then we will be one of the top 10 teams in the country."

With its best finish last year since 1983, the standards have been set high.

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