PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's lightweight crew is back on the Schuylkill River this weekend, hosting Yale and Columbia. The Marcellus Hartley Dodge Cup will be on the line in the Varsity Eights race, which is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m.
 
About the Dodge Cup
The Marcellus Hartley Dodge Cup was named after the late Marcellus Hartley Dodge, a member of the Columbia Class of 1903 and a former coxswain for the Lions. This race was first contested during the 1954 season and has run continuously every year since then except for a break from 1957-59; there also was no race in 1977.
 
Yale was won 40 of the 60 Dodge Cup races and has dominated for decades now, winning all but four races since 1979. Columbia has six wins, the most recent coming last year -- when the Lions' Varsity Eights went undefeated and won the IRA national title -- and also in 2016. Penn has 15 wins, the most recent coming in 1992.
 
In last year's Dodge Cup Varsity Eights race, Columbia finished nearly nine seconds ahead of second-place Yale and more than 12 seconds ahead of Penn at Overpeck Park.
 
The Schedule
9 a.m. – Fourth Varsity Eights
9:20 a.m. – Third Varsity Eights
9:40 a.m. – Second Varsity Eights
10 a.m. – Varsity Eights (Dodge Cup race)
 
Rankings
In the most recent poll that came out on Wednesday, Penn's Varsity Eights was ranked third—behind only Cornell and Princeton—while Yale was ranked fifth and Columbia was sixth.
 
Coach Farrell says…
"We're excited to get out on the race course again this Saturday. Yale and Columbia are both bringing strong teams to Philadelphia. Our squad is now firmly into the cup racing season and there is no better time of the year."