Radcliffe Heavies Coast

The Radcliffe Black and White heavyweight oarswomen opened their season on an auspicious note with a smooothly executed and convincing triumph over MIT and Northeastern Saturday.

The race, postponed from 10:40 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. because of a whipping wind which rendered the Charles turbulent, bore out the oarswomen's lofty expectations.

The Radcliffe crew brought its rig home in a solid 5:17.4, a length and a half in front of runner-up MIT and more than 22 seconds ahead of a sluggish Northeastern boat.

The contest concluded with visibility fading fast, as the delayed start occurred after sunset.

First Test

"It was an exciting race--we hadn't been tested in competition to this point, but we were all swinging together and we felt like a good team," senior stroke Jenny Stone said yesterday.

The crew started off at about 38 strokes per minute, which coxswain Meg Ziegler called "a pretty high cadence for this early."

The Black and White, the only University sports squad not nicknamed "Crimson," was deadlocked with MIT after ten strokes, but had pulled away to a one-length lead by the 500-meter mark.

The boat settled first to a pace of 35 strokes per minute, then dropped the cadence to a 33 for the body of the race.

"We were really pleased--we won, but more important, we were in total control," Ziegler said.

Two-thirds of the way through the course, the oarswomen saw open water, then staved off a late MIT surge to finish a full 5.5 seconds before the rival Cambridge crew.

Through the Storm

So, despite the disconcerting delay and the darkness, the Black and White turned in an impressive performance which bodes well for future regattas.