ave finished as runners-up in both 15s and 7s.[103] As of 2011, the club now utilize the state-of-the-art facilities at Penn Park. Quakers Rugby played on national TV at the 2013 Collegiate Rugby Championship, a college rugby tournament played every June at PPL Park in Philadelphia and broadcast live on NBC. In their inaugural year of participation, the Penn Men's rugby team won the Shield C

Varsity rowers approach Poughkeepsie Bridge, 1915
Rowing at Penn dates back to at least 1854 with the founding of the University Barge Club. The university currently hosts both heavyweight and lightweight men's teams and an openweight women's team, all of which compete as part of the Eastern Sprints League. Penn Rowing has produced a long list of famous coaches and Olympians, including Susan Francia, John B. Kelly, Jr., Joe Burk, Rusty Callow, Harry Parker, and Ted Nash. In addition, the 1955 men's heavyweight crew is one of only four American university crews to win the Grand Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. The teams row out of College Boat Club, No. 11 Boathouse Row. The program is currently under the direction of men's head coach Greg Myhr.
Rugby[edit]
The Penn Men's Rugby Football Club is recognized as one of the oldest collegiate rugby teams in America. The earliest documentation of its existence comes from a 1910 issue of the Daily Pennsylvanian. The team existed on and off during the World Wars.
The current club has its roots in the 1960s. The University of Pennsylvania rugby teams play in the Ivy Rugby Conference, and have finished as runners-up in both 15s and 7s.[103] As of 2011, the club now utilize the state-of-the-art facilities at Penn Park. Quakers Rugby played on national TV at the 2013 Collegiate Rugby Championship, a college rugby tournament played every June at PPL Park in Philadelphia and broadcast live on NBC. In their inaugural year of participation, the Penn Men's rugby team won the Shield Competition, beating local rivals Temple University 17-12 in the final. In doing so, they became the first Philadelphia team to beat a non-Philadelphia team in CRC history, with a 14-12 win over the University of Texas in the Shield semi-final.[104]
Football[edit]


Franklin Field
Penn first fielded a football team against Princeton at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia on November 11, 1876.[105]
Penn football made many contributions to the sport in its early days. During the 1890s, Penn's famed coach and alumnus George Washington Woodruff introduced the quarterback kick, a forerunner of the forward pass, as well as the place-kick from scrimmage and the delayed pass. In 1894, 1895, 1897, and 1904, Penn was generally regarded as the national champion of collegiate football.[105] The achievements of two of Penn's outstanding players from that era—John Heisman and John Outland—are remembered each year with the presentation of the Heisman Trophy to the most outstanding college football player of the year, and the Outland Trophy to the most outstanding college football interior lineman of the year.
In addition, each year the Bednarik Award is given to college football's best defensive player. Chuck Bednarik (Class of 1949) was a three-time All-American center/linebacker who starred on the 1947 team and is generally regarded as Penn's all-time finest. In addition to Bednarik, the '47 squad boasted four-time All-American tackle George Savitsky and three-time All-American halfback Skip Minisi. All three standouts were subsequently elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, as was their coa