...And 'Cliffe Finishes Sweep

The Radcliffe varsity and junior varsity crews scored their biggest triumphs of the year, in a season of many big victories, with a convincing one-length victory over the women's crews of Connecticut College, Boston University, Williams, the University of Massachusetts, and Barnard College.

The varsity got off to one of its better starts of the year, and jumped out on the five other crews at the gun.

Radcliffe took the first ten strokes at a 43, followed by 20 more at a 39 beat, before stroke Alison Hill settled to a 37 for the remainder of the race.

Power

Radcliffe continued to power its way past the other crews, opening up a one-length advantage at the 500-meter mark.

The 'Cliffe was then content to maintain that margin throughout the race, and staved off a Connecticut College sprint to hold onto the victory.

Radcliffe's time over the course was 3:09. This wasn't for the usual 1000 meters however, as there were no stake boats and the teams had a floating start.

By the time the crews were aligned on the race course they had floated 200 meters down stream, leaving 800 meters to race.

The final finish had Radcliffe ahead of Connecticut by a length, with B.U. edging out Williams by a seat, one half-length behind Connecticut. UMass finished a surprisingly poor fifth, with Barnard well off the pace in last place.

The junior varsity fours had little trouble disposing of their Terrier opposition.

The J.V.'s, having a slight psychological edge due to the staggered start advantage they enjoyed, took off from B.U. at the beginning of the race with ten strokes at a 40-beat, 20 at 38, and then settling at a 36.

Beleaguered Terriers

Cox Amy Sacks then called for a power 20, and Radcliffe pulled out past the bleaguered Terriers.

The final victory margin was 14 seconds.

The twin victories assured both Radcliffe crews of the top seedings in next week's Eastern Sprints Championships at Middleton, Conn. If Radcliffe wins that race, it will then go on to the national championships in California.

With a win there, the next stop is Lucerne, Switzerland for the World Championships.