CHERRY HILL, N.J. – The University of Pennsylvania women's rowing team opened the spring racing season at the Doc Hosea Invitational. Saturday's racing took place on the Cooper River, site of this year's NCAA Championships in late May.
 
Penn scored 47 points across the six races, finishing one point short of Syracuse which was declared team champion with 48 points. Northeastern was third with 33 points, Bucknell was fourth with 20, and Villanova ended the day with eight points.

Final Results (RegattaWorks.com) | Penn Boatings (PDF)
 
"I'm very proud of the racing our team put together amid a lot of outside noise about the conditions," said head coach Wesley Ng. "The Varsity Eight had a nailbiter finish, and hats off to Syracuse for the win and earning back the Orange Challenge Cup. The Second Varsity put together a nice performance. Our Third Varsity Eight, Fourth Varsity Eight and our Fours got some great experience and there is room for growth. I'm particularly proud of our first-year athletes, who raced their first collegiate 2,000 piece and handled themselves with maturity and poise."
 
Varsity Eight
Penn's eighth-ranked boat had a photo finish with No. 10 Syracuse, clocking 6:20.81 to finish just .74 seconds behind No. 10 Syracuse (6:20.07). Both the Orange and Quakers were well ahead of the other three boats in the race: Northeastern (6:44.87), Bucknell (6:55.50), and Villanova (6:55.88).
 
Second Varsity Eight
Penn won its race with relative ease, defeating second-place Syracuse by nearly six seconds. The Quakers clocked 6:35.93 while the Orange were timed in 6:41.48. The race was rounded out by Northeastern (6:50.70), Bucknell (7:04.79), and Villanova (7:07.35).
 
Varsity Four
Syracuse won the race in 7:21.32, well ahead of Penn (7:32.05). The Quakers, in turn, finished far ahead of Northeastern (7:55.08) and Bucknell (8:02.68).
 
Second Varsity Four
Like the Varsity Eights race, Syracuse and Penn dueled right to the end for another photo finish. The Orange was declared the winner in 7:41.64 while the Quakers were a mere .22 seconds behind in 7:41.86. Bucknell (8:13.11) and Northeastern (8:20.26) were third and fourth.
 
Third Varsity Eight
Penn nipped Northeastern for first place in this race, the Quakers timed in 7:02.92 and the Huskies a little more than a second behind in 7:04.19. Syracuse was a close third, in 7:07.74, while Bucknell (7:38.74) and Villanova (7:42.18) were well off the pace set by the top three boats.
 
Fourth Varsity Eight
In a three-boat race, Northeastern took first place in 7:14.29 while Penn was second (7:21.13) and Syracuse was third (7:26.13).