The University of Pennsylvania men’s heavyweight crew won two races against Harvard and Navy on April 25, competing on the Schuylkill River. The Quakers secured victories in both the Fourth Varsity Eight and Fifth Varsity Eight events, while placing second in the top three boat races.
These results highlight a competitive showing for Penn, particularly as they faced highly ranked boats from Harvard. The Crimson retained the Adams Cup by winning the Varsity Eight race, with their fourth-ranked boat finishing three seconds ahead of Penn’s eighth-ranked team.
“Today was a positive step forward for our program,” said Al Monte, Penn’s head coach. “I was really impressed with the resiliency in our lower boats and gutsy racing across the entire squad. I’m excited to see us continuing to make progress in the lead up to Sprints.”
In addition to their wins, Penn took second place behind Harvard—whose crews are currently top-ranked nationally—in both Second Varsity Eight and Third Varsity Eight competitions. The Quakers’ Fourth Varsity Eight started off strong with a two-second victory over Harvard, while their Fifth Varsity Eight ended the day by defeating both opponents by five seconds.
Looking ahead, Penn will compete next Saturday in Ithaca against Cornell for the Madeira Cup and Wray Trophy, as well as facing Holy Cross in other scheduled races.
