Lightweights Challenge U. Penn and Navy on the Schuylkill
2 min readThis weekend, the lightweights traveled to Philadelphia to race on the historic Schuylkill River racecourse. The Blue Hens took on University of Pennsylvania and Navy in a series of three races including the freshman, 3rd Varsity, 2nd Varsity, and 1st Varsity eights.
The Freshman 8 kicked off the races early in the afternoon. Penn jumped out to an early lead and maintained their speed to win it on their home course. Navy was second, with Delaware finishing third.
The Delaware 2V and 3V raced Navy’s 2V in the second race of the afternoon. The 3V took Lane 1, the 2V took Lane 2, and Navy’s 2V raced in Lane 3. All three crews came off the line fast. The 2V held strong with Navy for the first part of the race however, Navy was able to build on their lead throughout the course of the race and take 1st place with the 2V finishing six seconds back. The 3V finished in 3rd place.
The final race of the day consisted of the 1st Varsity 8’s of Penn, Navy, and Delaware. All three crews jumped off the line at a fast pace. At the 1000-meter mark, Navy was ahead of Delaware by only a few seats. Penn was in third, a few seats behind Delaware. The Fightin’ 150s were able to maintain composure throughout the second half of the race and walk through Navy with a very strong sprint. Delaware finished in 1st place, 3 seconds ahead of 9th ranked Navy and 4 seconds ahead of 7th ranked Penn.
The Lightweights will conclude their 2014 dual racing season next week as they face Columbia and Princeton at Overpeck Park, New Jersey.
