WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The University of Pennsylvania men's heavyweight crew closed out Al Monte's first year as head coach by earning the Clayton W. Chapman Trophy as the Most Improved Crew at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships on Sunday. The Quakers had two boats beat their pre-Championship seed and ended the weekend with 169 team points, good for 11th out of 24 programs.
 
All three Eights were in action on Sunday morning, competing in Petite Finals. The 1V8 and 3V8 beat their seed, while the 2V8 met its pre-event seed.

Final Results (RegattaTiming.com) | Penn Boatings (PDF)
 
Varsity Eights
This boat was playing with house money entering Sunday's Petite Final, having already guaranteed itself a top-12 finish which put it ahead of its pre-Championships seed (13). The Quakers chased Cornell most of Sunday's race for 11th place but ultimately fell a little more than four seconds shy of the Big Red, Penn clocking 5:48.962 across Mercer Lake's 2,000-meter course to Cornell's 5:44.892. Brown won the Petite Final in 5:35.596, nearly two seconds ahead of Stanford (5:37.538), while Harvard (5:40.932) took third. Dartmouth was fourth, in 5:42.588.
 
Second Varsity Eights
This was a tightly contested Petite Final, less than 10 seconds separating first-place Princeton (5:45.110) from sixth-place Northeastern (5:54.740). Penn clocked 5:52.500 and was fifth in the race, giving the Quakers 11th overall which matched its pre-Championships seed. Boston University was the surprise in this division; the 13th-seeded Terriers pushed the Tigers to the finish line and finished just a half-second off the winning pace in 5:45.640, giving BU eighth overall. Syracuse was third in the Petite Final, in 5:48.690, while Cornell (5:50.630) was a little less than two seconds ahead of Penn in fourth place.
 
Third Varsity Eights
Penn's final race from this boat was one to savor, the Quakers taking third in their Petite Final to finish ninth overall which was one spot higher than their pre-Championships seed (10). Princeton won the race and took seventh overall in 5:51.680, followed by Syracuse (5:53.930) and Penn (5:56.060). BU was fourth in 5:59.820, followed by Navy (6:02.170) and Northeastern (6:02.730).