2008 Woodie Awards
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Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: Sports
Men's Lightweight Rowing | Penn hopes to Engineer a win
MIT coming off strong showing against Cornell, Columbia; Penn needs to rebound
Brandon Moyse and Pari Hashemi
The men's lightweight rowing season is one filled with familiar races and familiar faces: the Navy Day Regatta, the Head of the Charles, the Princeton Chase, the Callow Cup - all year-in, year-out events.
But this season brings a less familiar foe to the water: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Penn is slated to push off against the Engineers on the Schuylkill tomorrow morning.
Though it's been a few years since the Quakers have heard the MIT fight song - "Cosine! Secant! Tangent! Sine! 3.14159!" - but that may actually be helpful for them. With the Eastern Sprints not long around the corner, the Red and Blue could benefit from rowing against some different competition.
That said, the Engineers are more than just sparring partners.
Their lightweights are coming off a strong weekend where they finished third to Columbia and Cornell at the Geiger Cup. Their Varsity 8 was only six seconds behind the Big Red - the 2007 national champions - and three seconds behind Columbia.
The race came down to the wire, as the Engineers' made a late push against the Lions, but eventually fell short. Despite the third place finish, there was a shining bright spot: It was MIT's best performance in the Regatta since 1993.
Unfortunately for the Engineers, their Freshman boat could not replicate the effort of the Varsity 8.
While the latter's strong showing was due to a late push, the former's third-place showing was due to the lack of one: MIT lead the race through the first half, but Columbia was able to turn it on through the second 1000 meters and come from third place to win.
The Engineers are hoping to carry that momentum into this weekend while the Quakers are hoping to reverse their most recent results.
Last weekend, the Quakers fell 21 seconds short of Princeton in the Wood-Hammond Cup. The Tigers clocked a 6:05.8 in the 2000-meter Varsity race while the Quakers finished in 6:26.6. That differential is a far cry from the past few years, when Penn finished only a few seconds back of Princeton.
Indeed, if the number-crunchers from Cambridge, Mass., have their way, they'll enjoy similar success against the Red and Blue.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 11
Seriously
posted 5/02/08 @ 9:38 AM EST
Is this a joke or are you really rooting for MIT? Go Penn and silence all the nay-sayers and these retarded reporters!
Angry
posted 5/02/08 @ 9:51 AM EST
i agree with seriously, whoever this dp reporter is, i wonder if they go to penn. to the reporter, if you dont know anything about rowing, better not write about it. (Continued…)
Alum @ Seriously
posted 5/02/08 @ 2:12 PM EST
Heh, yeah, writing that response was a source of humor that makes MY work day less boring as well. So it's a win-win!
For the record, I have nothing against your sport. (Continued…)
Observer
posted 5/02/08 @ 7:14 PM EST
After the beatings the Penn crew has taken this year, it is surprising that the DP would even waste time covering this event, even with a subpar reporter. (Continued…)
From the far boat bay
posted 5/03/08 @ 12:46 PM EST
Offers have been made by the crew teams to write about themselves, but the DP sees accurate reporting as a conflict of interest. With this article, the DP has now given more information about the MIT Lightweight's season than the Penn Women's season, interesting. (Continued…)
the fallout shelter
posted 5/03/08 @ 1:19 PM EST
However "the far boat bay", this reporter was able to educate me on pi AS WELL AS the MIT Lightweight's season. I'd call that a well-rounded article.
Rowing Alum
posted 5/03/08 @ 2:42 PM EST
Congrats to the DP writers, they must have had some inside info, for they picked the winning crew. Do they have any tips on today's Derby? I guess the LWTs still have some work to do to gain boat speed before the Sprints. (Continued…)
Anonymous
posted 5/05/08 @ 10:55 AM EST
Regardless of the bias this is a well researched college newspaper article. Particularly for someone who does not row. Look forward to reading more of your articles. (Continued…)
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