Black & White Loses; Crimson Triumphs

Consecutive losses to Dartmouth and Boston University over the weekend have left the Radcliffe crew team angry and eager for revenge.

"[The losses] have made us angry and really determined," senior coxswain Laura Marx said. "We're gonna turn this anger and determination into an edge against Yale next week."

In its biggest race to date, the Black and White lost to Boston University and Brown yesterday on the Charles River after losing at Dartmouth Saturday morning.

BU nipped Brown by a second after an intense dogfight, cruising its way to the finish in 7:19, Radcliffe crossed the finish line fourteen seconds later, recording a time of 7:19.

BU and Brown blew past Radcliffe at the outset, taking a five seat lead after only twenty strokes. They began to put the Black and White away after the first 1000 meters, as they extended their lead on Radcliffe in the third 500 meters and raced each other neck-in-neck until the end.

Marx said Radcliffe's sluggish performance during the last 1000 meters can be largely attributed to fatigue.

"We had a race [on Saturday] and the other two crews did not," Marx said. "We didn't have the same strength we usually have and had low ratings towards the end."

Mother Nature also looked unfavorably on the Black and White, as choppy waters and a strong combination cross wind hampered Radcliffe. All this, and two very tough and well-prepared opponents, made for a very rough day for the Black and White on the Charles.

"We had a very frustrating race," senior Captain Meg Brooks said. "We didn't race as competitively as the other two teams."

Though they had a tough weekend and face an even tougher week of practice ahead, the angry rowers refuse to let a few crucial losses affect their attitude.

"I hope we can capitalize on our crummy weekend and surprise some crews in the next couple of weeks," Brooks said. "We definitely have our work cut out for us."

The Men

On the men's side, the Harvard heavyweight crew team handily defeated Princeton and MIT on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, NJ.

Harvard rowed its way to a time of 5:49, six seconds ahead of the Tigers. The Engineers, though mathematically talented, did not find help in numbers this weekend, finishing third with a time of 6:00.

Junior coxain David Weiden said the heavyweights were pleased with their results.

"The race went very well and was what we needed," Weiden said. "We rowed a much better race than last week and did what we had to do win."

The Crimson began to pull away from the Tigers at the 500 meter mark, as it took an "aggressive ten" strokes to move out to a seven seat lead. A "power twenty" strokes at the 1000 meter mark put Harvard even further ahead, adding another half boat length to its lead.

Weiden said that gaining a victory this weekend after having lost to Brown last weekend bodes well for the Crimson, who always seem to peak at the right time.

"I think we're a team that tends to come on very strong at the end of the season," Weiden said. "I think that we can do that again, though the competition is very strong this year."