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The Penn State crew team looks to add to a fast start to the 2005 season, but will have to prove its muster without a few top guns.

Penn State heads to the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh this weekend to race in the Car-Du-Pitt, a match race against Pittsburgh, Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon on Sunday.

The team is coming off a strong performance against Lehigh, which was the team's first race in the spring.

Penn State has already faced Pittsburgh once this year, but in a less consequential match. During scrimmages at Camp Bob Cooper in Summerton, S.C., over spring break, Penn State swept Pittsburgh in every event, varsity and novice.

"Pittsburgh is one of our perennial rivals," Penn State coach John Biddle said. "They are very similar to us in size, caliber and tradition."

This weekend, however, Penn State will be without a few key rowers. Biddle would not specify who will be missing, but did say that the second women's heavyweight varsity eight and men's lightweight varsity four would not be have full representation of their starting squads. Both of these groups took first place by more than a boat length in last week's race.

This could be a problem against a Pittsburgh team that is probably looking to take revenge for its embarrassment at camp. Pittsburgh raced in the Murphy Cup in Philadelphia on March 26 and had decent finishes from its men and women's varsity fours. Its eights did not fare as well, placing dead last with its first teams and fifth of six teams with its women's second varsity eight.

Carnegie Mellon also competed in the Murphy Cup and had its best results in team history, placing no lower than third in three of four of the varsity fours.

Duquesne will be racing in its first listed scrimmage a day before the event.

Penn State is feeling more comfortable after its first full week of water work. Because the team has been behind in its water time, it has been working on drills that emphasize team movement. This includes rowing with the rowers' eyes closed. These drills push the rowers to focus on feeling the movements of their fellow rowers. As the rower's oars enter and exit the water, they make a clicking noise as they knock against the oar locks. Rowing with closed eyes forces rowers to listen for these clicks, and trust their instincts beyond their visual senses.

"Practices on the water have been great," women's heavyweight rower Stephanie Banach said. "We've been focusing a lot on blade work, fine tuning timing and catching."



	Crew team shorthanded heading into Pittsburgh By Adam Michael For The Collegian The Penn State crew team looks to add to a fast start to the 2005 season, but will have to prove its muster without a few top guns. Penn State heads to the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh this weekend to race in the Car-Du-Pitt, a match race against Pittsburgh, Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon on Sunday. The team is coming off a strong performance against Lehigh, which was the team's first race in the spring. Penn State has already faced Pittsburgh once this year, but in a less consequential match. During scrimmages at Camp Bob Cooper in Summerton, S.C., over spring break, Penn State swept Pittsburgh in every event, varsity and novice. "Pittsburgh is one of our perennial rivals," Penn State coach John Biddle said. "They are very similar to us in size, caliber and tradition." This weekend, however, Penn State will be without a few key rowers. Biddle would not specify who will be missing, but did say that the second women's heavyweight varsity eight and men's lightweight varsity four would not be have full representation of their starting squads. Both of these groups took first place by more than a boat length in last week's race. This could be a problem against a Pittsburgh team that is probably looking to take revenge for its embarrassment at camp. Pittsburgh raced in the Murphy Cup in Philadelphia on March 26 and had decent finishes from its men and women's varsity fours. Its eights did not fare as well, placing dead last with its first teams and fifth of six teams with its women's second varsity eight. Carnegie Mellon also competed in the Murphy Cup and had its best results in team history, placing no lower than third in three of four of the varsity fours. Duquesne will be racing in its first listed scrimmage a day before the event. Penn State is feeling more comfortable after its first full week of water work. Because the team has been behind in its water time, it has been working on drills that emphasize team movement. This includes rowing with the rowers' eyes closed. These drills push the rowers to focus on feeling the movements of their fellow rowers. As the rower's oars enter and exit the water, they make a clicking noise as they knock against the oar locks. Rowing with closed eyes forces rowers to listen for these clicks, and trust their instincts beyond their visual senses. "Practices on the water have been great," women's heavyweight rower Stephanie Banach said. "We've been focusing a lot on blade work, fine tuning timing and catching."