LEONIA, N.J. – The University of Pennsylvania women's rowing team had a solid performance on Saturday. The Varsity Eight boat took second place to No. 2 Yale but finished well ahead of Columbia and Dartmouth in the race for the Connell Cup, while the Second Varsity Eight also finished second. In all, Penn put five boats on the water on Saturday in the races hosted by Columbia at Overpeck Park.
 
"The team had an excellent performance today against strong competition," said head coach Wesley Ng. "At this point in the season we are looking for progress, discovering our strengths and weaknesses, and supporting our training groups more, and this was a good step today. We now turn our attention to preparing for our longest trip of the year to the Pac-12 Challenge in Las Vegas, where we will see more strong nationally-ranked opponents."

Saturday's Final Results (HereNow.com)
 
Varsity Eight
Penn's 16th-ranked boat clocked 6:57.262 across the 2,000-meter course at Overpeck Park on Saturday morning. That was less than eight seconds behind Yale's second-ranked boat (6:49.302) and well ahead of third-place Columbia (7:11.250). Dartmouth (7:24.849) was a distant fourth.
 
Second Varsity Eight
Penn's time was 7:11.735, a little more than eight seconds behind the Bulldogs (7:03.567) but again well ahead of the third-place boat stroked by Dartmouth (7:41.543). Columbia was fourth (7:45.543).
 
Varsity Four
Penn clocked 8:11.564 and was nipped for second place at the finish line by Columbia (8:11.152). Yale won this race in 7:49.718, while Dartmouth was fourth (8:20.258).
 
Second Varsity Four
Penn covered the course in 8:11.938 and was second to Yale (7:43.869). Columbia (8:19.698) was third, while Dartmouth (8:35.535) was a distant fourth.
 
Third Varsity Eight
Penn took third place in this race, clocking 7:43.730 which was behind winner Yale (7:09.808) and Columbia (7:38.406). Dartmouth (8:07.429) was fourth.
 
Up Next
Penn will be in Las Vegas next Saturday and Sunday for the Pac-12 Challenge.