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ORLANDO, Fla. – The 19th-ranked University of Pennsylvania women’s rowing team is bringing home some hardware, the Third Varsity Eight earning silver medals and the Varsity Four winning bronze at the inaugural Orlando Invitational. The two-day event—which concluded Saturday morning on Lake Pickett—was hosted by the University of Central Florida (UCF) and featured six teams ranked in this week’s CRCA national coaches’ poll.
 
“UCF hosted a wonderful regatta and we were thrilled to be involved in some great racing against high-level programs this weekend,” said Penn’s head coach, Bill Manning. “It’s always a good opportunity when you can race against programs from outside the Northeast.”
 
Live Results (CrewTimer.com)
 
Varsity Eights (B Final)
  Penn 6:35.2
  Clemson 6:40.9
  SMU 6:45.4
“Makeda Harrison stroked our top boat to an open-water victory,” said Manning. “It wasn’t the race we wanted to contest, obviously, but I was very pleased with the enthusiasm and professionalism the crew displayed.”
 
Second Varsity Eights (A Final)
  UCF 6:38.3
  Alabama 6:38.9
  Miami 6:45.4
  Penn 6:49.5
  Duke 6:51.2
“The 2V8 raced courageously this morning,” said Manning. “Really wonderful fight in them. Their persistence put them in position to medal but we came up just short in fourth. Still, always good to finish ahead of Duke again today.”
 
Varsity Fours (A Final)
  UCF 7:14.9
  Duke 7:15.6
  Penn 7:19.9
  Miami 7:24.0
  Alabama 7:25.1
“This was another great race from Coach Josie Konopka‘s Four, claiming Bronze with open water ahead of those behind us,” said Manning. “They raced aggressively, as one needs to do, and put significant pressure on eventual winner UCF. Our Four is getting better each week.”
 
Third Varsity Eights (A Final)
  UCF 6:41.5
  Penn 6:42.2
  Alabama 6:44.8
  Miami 6:52.3
  SMU 6:55.0
“The 3V won silver in a gutsy race,” said Manning. “The crews were fairly level in the early going then UCF and Alabama pushed out a couple seats in the middle. Stroke Zola Young started bringing us back with 600 to go and lifted beautifully to overtake Alabama and nearly catch UCF. This was a well-earned silver for our women in this seven-boat field”.

Up Next

The Quakers have one final test before the Ivy League Championship on May 16-17. That comes in two weeks when they race against No. 6 Princeton and No. 11 UCF at the Tigers’ home course on Lake Carnegie.

 

For the latest on Penn women’s rowing, follow @PennWomensRowing on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.

 

#FightOnPenn

 
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