By Jamie Francis, Mercyhurst rowing assistant coach

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Mercyhurst University lightweight men's rowing team traveled to Philadelphia to race the lightweights from the University of Pennsylvania. The tenth-ranked Quakers edged out the twelfth-ranked Lakers in the first eight. The tables were turned with the second eights as Mercyhurst crossed the line before Pennsylvania's second eight.

"We appreciate the opportunity to race a team as competitive at Penn," said Mercyhurst head coach Adrian Spracklen. "This is our second race with Penn and as we continue to move towards being a more competitive lightweight program. We look forward to making this a regular dual race in our season."

The lightweight men will travel with the women to Mercer, N.J., on April 12 to compete in the Knecht Cup Regatta. For updates on the team, follow @HurstRowing on Twitter.

Results
Varsity 8
University of Pennsylvania 5:48
Mercyhurst University 5:58

2nd Varsity 8
University of Pennsylvania 1F 5:57
Mercyhurst University 6:11
University of Pennsylvania 2V 6:26

Line-ups
Varsity 8
B - Mitch Fairer
2 - Sam Rouse
3 - Zack Pappas
4 - Nicholas Wnek
5 - Amel Younis
6 - Gary Loo
7 - Xavier Alexander
S - Milos Veres
C - Kevin McCarthy

2nd Varsity 8
B - Alexander Walters
2 - Harrison Kieffer
3 - Jake Lennon
4 - Ben Urbanowski
5 - Douglas Riethmuller
6 - Blaze Kelly
7 - Jonathan Blazevic
S - Samuel Sheridan
C - Ryan Baniszewski