Radcliffe Heavies Demolish Wisconsin In Easterns; B.U. Tops Lightweights

LAKE BESECK, Conn.--"We wanted it so much. It was just a matter of going out there and doing it." That was all that coxswain Nancy Hadley could say yesterday after the Radcliffe varsity heavyweights blew Wisconsin and Yale off the waters of Lake Beseck to capture the Eastern Women's Rowing Association championships. The victory continued Radcliffe's monopoly of the event, marking its third triumph in the three-year history of the race.

Radcliffe took a two-seat lead over Wisconsin after only ten strokes and never let up, increasing the margin to five seats after 500 meters and eight after 750 meters. The boat won the 1000-meter contest in 3:00.8, almost a length (three seconds) over Wisconsin. Yale was third in 3:06.9.

Wisconsin, which had been seeded sixth before the race, beat the previously undefeated and first-seeded Yale crew by two lengths in the first heat of the day, while second-seeded Radcliffe defeated Williams by open water in the second heat.

Stroke Barbara Norris felt that the key in the race was Radcliffe's ability to row well in the terrible conditions in the last 500 meters. "We handled that rough water really well, even better than we had hoped," Norris said.

"I hope Yale got the message," added coach John Baker after his crew had tossed him into the water. "I think we proved that we're the better crew." Baker's eight will face Yale again next Saturday in a two-mile affair at New Haven.

Turning Out the Lights

Meanwhile, the lightweight varsity suffered its first loss to another light-weight crew, losing to the same B.U. eight they defeated three weeks ago in the Greater Boston Championships. B.U. rowed the race in 3:12.8, while Radcliffe finished second in the field of five in 3:18.

"We rowed the race reasonably well, but I think that we are a better crew than the results show," coach Peter Huntsman said after the race. Because of the extremely rough water. Huntsman was forced to use the J.V. heavyweight's boat instead of his crew's usual boat, the light Matina Horner.

"The Matina sits too low in the water and would have been swamped in those whitecaps," explained captain Dotty Kent after the race.

The lights held a half-length lead going into the last 500 meters, but the rough water proved to be too much to handle and they fell apart after catching two crabs.

Outgunned Yale

The J.V. heavyweights defeated ten other crews en route to a nine-second victory over an outgunned Yale J.V. They jumped to a four-seat lead after ten strokes, and were never threatened thereafter, finishing in 3:12.

In their first heat, the undefeated and first-seeded 'Cliffe eight defeated Princeton by 12 seconds to qualify for the finals.

Radcliffe's last entrant was in the varsity four event. The crew finished fourth in a field of six, turning in a 4:00.2 to first-place B.U.'s 3:34.8.

But it was the heavyweight eight race that stole the show yesterday at Lake Beseck. The win was especially important for Radcliffe, for it may mean that the crew goes to Germany this summer.