Pittsburgh unexpectedly cancelled this weekend, leaving the match race on the Allegheny River to Penn State, Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne. The late Pitt cancellation did not disappoint Penn State coach John Biddle.
"I'm not worried about Pitt," Biddle said. "We've seen them at spring break already."
The women were in rare form on Sunday as they cruised past their opponents in the women's varsity eight, winning by four boat lengths.
"After the first couple strokes we were already ahead," varsity eight captain Debbie Schroeder said.
The first women's varsity four also beat both opposing crews, as well as a Penn State boat by more than a boat length.
"It feels so good to get out there and beat these river teams that are by water all the time," varsity heavyweight rower Natalie Dell said. "You don't need that to be good."
The race was shortened from the normal 2,000 meters to 1,800 meters because the teams had to row into the current. Most races are rowed downstream, but because the current was so fast, it would have practically erased the challenge for the rowers. When the current goes against the progress of the boat, it is moving backward every moment that the rowers aren't pulling.
The strong current was probably an advantage for a Penn State team that prides itself on its strength.
"One reason we did so well was because the current was ridiculous, and we had to row upstream," Schroeder said. "The land practices helped to give us the endurance we needed to win."
Biddle said his crew did better than expected, but there was much more excitement in his voice.
"As a team, we made a good showing [Sunday]. A lot of the crews feel more justified coming out of this race." Biddle said. "My appetite is whetted for the Knect Cup next weekend."
A second varsity four placed third ahead of Duquesne even though the rowers typically don't practice as a four. The boat was composed of the remaining members of the women's second varsity eight, who had three members missing. To allow all the rowers to remain in the boat, lightweight Jen Bucholtz used her high school experience as coxswain and took the helm.
"I'm from Pittsburgh so I knew the race course pretty well," Bucholtz said. "The girls pulled a really strong race. They really kept the power up."
The varsity men did not fare as well, placing second in both the men's heavyweight varsity eight and men's lightweight varsity four. Rowers were missing from both boats, including men's lightweight four captain Joey Henry.
"There was a considerable difference without Joey, who is a competitive rower after four years, versus a first-year rower," men's lightweight four Jon Stine said. "Mike [Wanich] did an exceptional job as a replacement.
"It was probably a good experience to lose before the Dad Vale," Stine said, speaking of the national regatta held in Philadelphia. "We know what it feels like now. We don't want that feeling to return for the rest of the season."
First-time varsity rower Wanich said varsity was different than novice rowing.
"A novice boat jumps forward with every stroke and isn't fully set," Wanich said. "The varsity boat was almost perfectly balanced."
The men's varsity eight has been mixing and matching rowers since the beginning of the season. Initially there was supposed to be a men's heavyweight varsity four, but the team lost a boat on the way back from preseason camp. The eight has had to work with lightweight and heavyweight rowers in one boat, and also has experimented with some freshmen.
"My boat has a lot of work to do," men's eight captain John Dixon said. "We'll try to perfect our starts and sprints this week."
The novice teams cashed in on their first three victories of the season, taking first place in the men's lightweight four, men's eight and women's four.
"The eight was disorganized, we don't usually practice together but we won," said Wanich, who performed in three races, of the men's eight. "The novice four won by what seemed like a football field."
Novice coach Josh Organist credited the team's quick improvement to the week of water practices beforehand and said the team will continue to improve with experience.
The women's novice eight's placed third and fourth but may have fared better if they had raced against other novice boats. Because the other crews didn't have enough novice rowers, the women raced against varsity and junior varsity eight's to gain experience.