The Penn State crew team is defending one Knecht Cup title and looking to grab a few more this weekend as it heads to the Cooper River in Camden, N.J., tomorrow. The race will be the first major regatta of the year and will host more than 50 crew teams from across the country. Powerhouses such as Kansas, Wisconsin, Boston College, Princeton, Georgetown and Villanova will provide some of the best collegiate rowers in the country. Penn State will have its eye on rival teams such as Pitt, Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Saint Joseph's and especially Duquesne, who grabbed a victory from the lightweight men last weekend.

"This regatta will definitely be more competitive than the regional championship," varsity lightweight rower Jon Stine said, speaking of the Mid Atlantic Collegian Crew Championships in Fairfax, Va. "A lot of the California schools coming this weekend are really fast. They don't travel 3,000 miles to get their butts kicked."

Penn State is sending two women's fours to compete in varsity competition, meaning it will compete with crews from Division I varsity teams. This is the first time in recent history that Penn State has had teams compete at the varsity level.

"We're mostly looking to get more racing in," coach John Biddle said. "We also want to see how we stand up against the really big dogs."

Because lightweights are not separated into varsity and club crews like the other groups, the men's lightweight four will also have a chance to compete against varsity crews from all three divisions, as well as club crews. The team took second in the event last year and will return with two of the four rowers from last season.

Penn State has also entered an additional men's four, women's four, and two women's eights at the club level.

The women's first eight is looking to continue a positive trend as it is coming off of a victory against Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon last weekend, when it won by four boat lengths.

Biddle is excited to see how the club women's four competes. The boat was put together specifically for the event. The boat will be composed of four women from Penn State's second varsity eight.

Penn State is the defending champion of the men's club four competition. Heavyweight rower Mike Domen is the only remaining member from the four that won the competition last year.

"We were off their stern for the entire race. It was pretty awesome," he said, referring to last year's race. "That's what we practice for all those mornings. It's good to get a reward after all that work."

A men's novice four and women's novice four will also be rowing at the competition. This will be their first taste of the Knecht Cup. The novice team has more than 30 members, but has selected its top four men and women for the competition. Novice teams in the past have fared well from Penn State and are looking for more of the same.

The Knecht Cup is different than the first two races of Penn State's spring season because it is broken into heats. The top teams from each heat will advance through to the semifinals, held tomorrow, and possibly to the finals, held Sunday.

Another major difference is the layout of the course. In the past two match races, starts have been somewhat unofficial because the boats were roughly lined up by a judge and told to start when they appeared to be even with one another. In this race, six lanes will be divided by buoys. Stake boats will float between the starting lanes to aid in alignment and ensure that no boat is given an unfair advantage from the start. It is up to the coxswains to make sure their boat stays aligned and in place. Rowers must maintain their boat position moving the boat gently without rowing.