RALEIGH, N.C. – The tenth-ranked University of Pennsylvania women's rowing team has completed rowing at the Lake Wheeler Invitational. The two-day event was co-hosted by Duke and the University of North Carolina (UNC).
 
Penn finished fifth in the total team points race for the weekend, with 62 across three sessions of racing. the LWI team title was won by Tennessee (99 points) followed by Duke (84), UCF (75), then Syracuse (65) which nipped past the Quakers in the weekend's final race. In the NCAA boats, the Red and Blue had second-place finishes in the Varsity Eight and Varsity Four races on Saturday morning—the 1V8 to Syracuse, the 1V4 to Duke—with the Second Varsity Eight taking third to the Orange and Blue Devils in arguably the race of the day.
 
Final Results (RegattaTiming.com) | Penn Boatings (PDF)
 
Varsity Eights
A great race to end the weekend. The Orange, Quakers and Blue Devils were all in contact with each other until about the 1,500-meter mark when Syracuse and Penn separated. In the final 500, Syracuse—which led much of the way, barely—opened it up and beat the Red and Blue by a little more than two seconds.
  #9 Syracuse 6:28.789
  #6 Penn 6:30.969
  #18 Duke 6:36.569
  Clemson 6:49.373
  UNC 6:54.125
  Georgetown 7:01.523

Second Varsity Eights
The three ranked boats quickly established themselves in the lead group, and the Orange took a lead in the second 500 that they never relinquished although the three boats were never out of reach of each other. Penn and Duke were neck-and-neck for second, the decision going to the Blue Devils by a mere 0.264 seconds.
  #11 Syracuse 6:38.592
  #15 Duke 6:40.272
  #13 Penn 6:40.536
  UNC 6:58.414
  Clemson 7:00.946
  Georgetown 7:10.738

Varsity Fours
A race with five top-25 boats went to the Blue Devils, the co-hosts getting out in the second 500 and extending their lead the rest of the way. Penn and Syracuse battled all the way down the course for second, the Quakers pulling ahead in the second half of the race to get the runner-up spot.
  #11 Duke 7:16.775
  #9 Penn 7:22.707
  #17 Syracuse 7:24.563
  #23 Clemson 7:31.583
  #22 UNC 7:37.959
  Georgetown 7:44.831
 
Second Varsity Fours
The Blue Devils and Orange established themselves as the lead group early on, and Duke rowed through Syracuse in the third 500 en route to the 2.2-second win. Penn battled UNC for third, getting an open-water lead in the third 500 and holding it.
  Duke 7:26.946
  Syracuse 7:29.122
  Penn 7:44.838
  UNC 7:49.618
  Georgetown 7:51.154
  Clemson 7:57.834
 
Third Varsity Eights
The Blue Devils, Orange and Quakers battled right to the finish, but Duke got out to a lead in the second 500 and never relinquished it in winning by a little more than two seconds. The top three boats were separated by a mere 3.076 seconds.
  Duke 6:52.930
  Syracuse 6:55.182
  Penn 6:56.006
  Clemson7:08.518
  UNC 7:18.616
  Georgetown 7:23.202