Wharton Journal

Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: News

This past Saturday, the Wharton Crew Team hosted the Wharton Sprints on the Schuylkill River. Wharton was joined by Yale and M.I.T. for the four race regatta. The day got off to an inauspicious start as a bolt of lightning and a brief downpour risked ending the Sprints before they began. Fortunately, the storm subsided and the teams were able to get on the water.

The first race was the men's eight. Wharton Finance professor Alex Edmans was the coxswain for the eight rowers: Yasu Sako (WG'08), Dan Bowermaster (WG'08), Todd Costain (Design'08), Mike Burlando (Design'08), Shuvra Gupta (Math'11), Alex Gitnik (WG'08), Kevin Hall (Med Faculty), and men's team captain Christian Kellett (WG'09). The team faced off against the men's eights from Yale and M.I.T. A few crabs (when an oar gets stuck in unusable position) after the start put Wharton behind the other two boats by better than a boat-length. The team worked its way back, but there was not enough time to overtake the M.I.T. men as they edged out Yale.

The second race of the day was the women's four. Perrin Braun coxed the first women's four: Elizabeth Rose (WG'09), Maureen Owston (Education'08), Kearney Posner (WG'08), and Britter Gunderson (Med). The depth on the Wharton women's team allowed them to field a second women's boat. Edmans coxed again, this time for Katie Lindl (Med), Brooke Eplee (WG'09), Noa Padowitz (Social Policy'08), and women's team captain Linda Gruendken (Math). An MIT women's four rounded out the three-boat race. The two Wharton boats pulled away from M.I.T. early on. After an impressive surge by the Wharton B boat midway through the race, the Wharton A boat won by a boat length.

The Wharton men's four consisting of Hall, Bowermaster, Costain, and Kellett switched out with the second women's four with Edmans remaining for his third and final stint as coxswain. The boat went head-to-head in a two-boat race with Yale. The men got off to a strong start and maintained their pace through the length of the race. Technical difficulties in the Yale boat mid-way through the race ensured a Wharton victory.

The final event of the regatta was a mixed eight race between Wharton, Yale, and M.I.T. Braun coxed Rose, Gruendken, Sako, Edmans, Burlando, Gitnik, Eplee, and Ali Harrist (Med) into a race that ended in a photo finish in front of the stands on Kelly Drive. An instant replay revealed that the M.I.T. boat had bested Yale by a hair.

Back at the Bachelors' Boathouse on Philadelphia's iconic Boathouse Row, Wharton hosted the visiting schools for a barbeque on the second floor balcony. The regatta's planner and organizer, Wharton Crew President Elizabeth Rose (WG'09), distributed medals to the victorious boats. Members of the each school mingled and swapped rowing war stories. They will all meet again at the Harvard Graduate School Regatta in Boston later in the month.

Looking ahead to the fall, Wharton Crew is looking for experienced rowers and coxswains from the class of 2009 who would like to join the team. We are also looking for novice rowers who would like to take part in "Learn to Row" training sessions on the Schuylkill.

If you are interested or would like to know more, please contact Women's Captain Linda Gruendken at lindagr@sas.upenn.edu or Men's Captain Christian Kellett at kellettc@wharton.upenn.edu.

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