Athlete of the Week: Women's Heavyweight Crew

If those boats had doors, the Radcliffe heavyweight skull would have left the bottom of the Charles River littered with doorknobs this weekend.

Instead, the Radcliffe heavies completed its most successful dual-meet season in a decade in speedy fashion, obliterating the old course record on the way to its sixth straight Alan DeWolfe Cup.

Doorknobs or not, it was a good day.

Radcliffe cut through the course in a time of 6:17.5, besting Princeton's previous course record of 6:27.2, set in 1993.

The Radcliffe women, now ranked third among Eastern schools and fourth in the nation, got out to an early lead against their guests, MIT and B.U.

By the 800-meter mark the women were clearly on pace to set a record and keep the cup at Weld for another year.

Radcliffe maintained its rhythm over the water, extending its lead over B.U. to nearly three-boat lengths before the finish of the race. The Terriers, tongues wagging, finished at 6:26.9, and MIT crossed almost 25 seconds later.

By that time, the Black and White were celebrating one of the most successful weekends on the season.

With Eastern Sprints less than a week away, Radcliffe's determination and concentration this weekend bode well for a tournament in which it has a history of doing well.

For winning the cup, shattering a record and making both Harvard and Radcliffe proud, The Crimson gives you the Radcliffe women's heavyweights as its Athlete(s) of the week.