Penn's frosh boats grab first, fifth

Quakers, or members of the Religious Society of Friends, believe strongly in an egalitarian spirit that treats women as equals. For Penn's women's crew, however, equality might not be enough.

The open crew certainly didn't have to travel far to its first meet of the season, the Navy Day Regatta on the Schuylkill River this past Saturday. It seems that competing near home sparked the Quakers' pride.

In the freshman or novice eight event, Penn's two boats flashed their speed and finished first and fifth, with times of 16 minutes, 9.10 seconds and 18:46.20, respectively. The first-place finishers roared across the finish line almost two minutes before the next-best crew from Lehigh.

The success of their young rookies was only the first in a series of triumphs for the Quakers. The day would end with Penn boats taking home first in every event that they entered.

The lone boat to enter the JV Eight competition took the top spot with a time of 16:12.70. This success was only a precursor to the final two events of the day, in which the college eight and the club eight each claimed first-place honors in their respective races.

The college eight stroked a torrid 14:54.90 and the club eight turned in a time of 15:54.40.

Penn's men's crews also turned in a respectable showing. The best finish came from the freshman eight, which placed second with a time of 14:49. The men's heavyweight crew's best finish was fifth place, with a time of 14:29.60. It looks like the men's team will have to work hard to regain the spirit of equality before next week's Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.

Crimson cruise

Apparently Harvard's men's soccer team (9-4 overall, 3-1 Ivy League) decided that the No. 14 ranking affixed to Brown (8-3-1, 2-1-1) was undeserved. Aiming to take its fellow Ivy Leaguers down a peg or two, the Crimson swept over the Bears in a dominant 6-2 road victory Oct. 14.

Midfielder Michael Fucito did his best impression of Thierry Henry, scoring two goals and assisting on three others.

But the Crimson attack only began with Fucito. Forward Charles Altcheck, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, was a beneficiary of his teammate's excellent passes. Altcheck scored two goals in a two-minute stretch early in the second half that all but eliminated the possibility of a Brown comeback.

Both goals came on assists from Fucito, with the more dramatic score coming on a header in the 50th minute.

The Bears made a small stab at reclaiming their lost dignity with a goal in the 83rd minute. Harvard goalkeeper Adam Hahn, who by that point was probably ready to take the rest of the game off, let in a cannon shot by forward Jamie Granger.

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Interestingly, the Crimson had knocked off No. 15 Fairfield (8-3-1) less than a week earlier, on Oct. 9. That 2-1 victory also occurred on the road. If the pattern continues, more ranked teams will need to watch their backs when Harvard comes into town.

Yale in the hunt

Ivy League football this year has thus far been a game of the haves and the have-nots. Four teams are 2-0 in Ancient Eight play, while the rest of the Ivies are all 0-2. Princeton (5-0, 2-0) is fortunate enough to be in the first group and therefore has to keep a close eye on its competitors for this year's title.

One of those competitors is likely to be Yale (4-1, 2-0). The Bulldogs just won their litmus-test game against Lehigh (2-4) in overtime, 26-20. The game strengthened the character of Yale's team by testing them in crunch time, and it gave the men of New Haven a new star to lead the way.

Sophomore tailback Mike McLeod, who rushed for 204 yards on the day, plunged in for the game-winning score on the Bulldogs' first overtime possession. The play was a relatively simple head-on rush up the gut, and McLeod finished with style by jumping high over the pile and reaching across the line for the score.