W. Light Crew Nipped at Nationals

In a season of national championship runs for both the Radcliffe heavyweight and lightweight crews, one would not expect to hear the word "heartbreak."

But that's just what happened to the lightweight varsity eights on May 30, as the two-time defending national champion saw a potential third fall by the wayside. Just six-tenths of a second separated Radcliffe and 1998 national champion Villanova.

Meanwhile the Radcliffe heavyweight crew was one of eight teams to qualify for the NCAA Championships on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga., but all three boats failed to reach the Grand Finals.

Of course the season itself was anything but a wash.

Heavyweight Women

Radcliffe heavyweight crew was a strong player in women's rowing all season. The team, coached by Liz O'Leary, started out the season on shaky ground but continuously improved and found itself on its way to NCAAs.

Radcliffe spent much of its early season in the middle of the pack. In its first race, at home against Northeastern and MIT, the crew lost to the Huskies by a little over six seconds, with MIT not being a factor in the race.

Record: 5-4 (heavyweights) 7-2 (lightweights)

Coach: Liz O'Leary (heavyweights) Aubrey Borland (lightweights)

Highlights: Lightweights place second at Nationals; heavyweights reach NCAAs

Seniors: Landis Fisher, Catherine Malone, Amy Mecklenburg, Erin O'Malley, Amy Roth

The crew then traveled to San Diego for the Crew Classic and finished fourth behind Washington, Michigan and Northeastern by only 0.22 seconds, a clear improvement from the previous weekend.

The following weekend, Radcliffe beat Cornell by a substantial margin but lost to Princeton by six seconds.

The Black and White varsity found itself in the middle of the crews again at its next regatta, winning over Syracuse but losing to Dartmouth. The following day it lost to Brown.

Then the season turned around.

With its goal of qualifying for NCAAs in mind, Radcliffe grabbed a huge win on April 25 at Yale. The crew went on to defeat Boston University and then to place fourth at Eastern Sprints, held on Lake Waramaug in New Preston, Conn.

At Sprints, the Black and White beat the Princeton Tigers for the first time in years. The team members were extremely happy with their finish.

"Although we had a few disappointing losses mid-season, we are really proud of our race at Sprints and our progression in the last few weeks," said junior coxswain Diane Marks. "We surprised a lot of people at Sprints."

Looking towards next year's season, the Radcliffe heavyweight crew has tremendous room for growth. The team is a relatively young one, drawing from the strength of the 1997 national-champion novice eight.

"The team hopes to build off of this year," Marks said. "We have a lot of great freshmen stepping up. We definitely plan to be on the medal stand at Sprints."

Lightweight Women

The Radcliffe lightweight women are truly outstanding among lightweight collegiate programs. Radcliffe, which has lost only one dual race in the last 12 seasons, entered 1998 having captured the national title in each of the past two years.

The varsity boat remained a strong one, having lost only two seniors last year. And second-year Coach Aubrey Borland is not returning after this season, making this spring even more important.

Radcliffe's first lightweight race was on April 4 at the San Diego Crew Classic, where the varsity crew successfully defended its title from last year. Upon their return to the East Coast, the lightweights proved that their speed and dedication were enough for yet another outstanding season, as they defeated Princeton, Villanova, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Virginia.

But it was not all roses for Radcliffe. Although Radcliffe had beaten Princeton earlier in the season, the Tigers were able to secure the Eastern Sprints title.

The Team members viewed Princeton as their main competition in their pursuit of the national title. While Radcliffe did tame the Tigers, who finished third, it was unable best the Villanova Wildcats.

Although the rowers were disappointed by the loss, they had expected tough competition.

"The only expectation the lightweight women had going into this season was that we were going to have to work extremely hard to be competitive against each of the teams we raced," said captain and stroke Amy Mecklenburg.