Ruling the Waves

The Radcliffe heavyweight crew displayed awesome raw power this spring in thundering to impressive victories over MIT, Dartmouth, BU, NU, Princeton, Cornell and Yale. But at the Eastern Sprints championships on Connecticut's Lake Waramug, the heavies' comeback effort fell just short and they wound up second a fraction of a second behind an upstart Penn boat.

The heavyweight oarswomen's aggressive style compensated for an occasional lack of smoothness. Co-captains Kelly Ronan and Karen Spencer furnished strong leadership, plying the murky Charles from the two bow seats. The only other rower who will be lost to graduation is senior stroke Jenny Stone.

Despite the excruciating defeat at the hands of Penn, the heavies had their best season in recent memory, the highlight being the sweet triumph on Yale's home course, where they garnered the inaugural Case Cup. Mr. Nate Case, by the way, coaches Yale.

The Radcliffe lights climaxed an untarnished 5-0 season by grabbing the Colonial Bank and Trust Company Cup at the Eastern Sprints.

Captained by Janice Nevin, the lights had little trouble in leaving opposing crews staring into their wake. With six of eight rowers returning, the prospects for the pursuit of happiness on the Charles next season appear propitious.