Penn heavyweight rowing fell short of first to Yale and Columbia in last Saturday's Blackwell Cup Race.
(File Photo)
Penn rowing may be the last Penn sport to finish their season, but they’re certainly not the least.
The lightweight and heavyweight rowing teams wrapped up their seasons on June 1-3 at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship. The regatta was held on Mercer Lake in New Jersey, where high winds and rough conditions caused many of the days races to be cancelled. Although the regatta was shortened, it capped off a successful season for both of Penn men’s rowing teams.
Early Sunday morning, the lightweight Varsity 8 boat finished fourth overall, behind Ivy rivals Columbia, Princeton, and Harvard. They beat out Navy and Yale, earning redemption after losing to Navy earlier in the season at the Callow Cup. The lightweight Varsity 4 boat was supposed to race later in the day, but was unable to do so due to bad lake conditions.
For the heavyweights, the Varsity 8 boat came into the race ranked thirteenth, but finished fourteenth instead, after coming in second in the Third Final. The Quakers beat Navy for the second time this season, edging out the Midshipmen by only a second. The previous victory came earlier in the season en route to a second place finish in the Adams Cup, which was won by Harvard. The Crimson would go on to finish fourth overall in the IRA Grand Final.
As with the lightweight team, the other heavyweight boats were unable to compete due to weather. While the teams were surely disappointed to not be able to race, both had impressive seasons and are primed to come back even stronger next fall.
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