W. Heavies Post Best Time This Year In Win

The celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Radcliffe rowing program didn’t go exactly as the Black and White had planned on Saturday, as the lightweights were caught from behind by Princeton, who defended its Class of 1999 Cup.

On Sunday, though, the No. 8 first varsity heavyweight boat turned in its fastest time on the river this spring in its last home and regular season race of the year en route to a commanding victory over BU, Northeastern and MIT. The win over the Terriers earned the Black and White the Allen-DeWolfe Cup for the fourth time in five years, while the victory over the Huskies gave Radcliffe its fourth consecutive Rowlands Cup.

W. Heavyweights

In front of several hundred fans, including many former Radcliffe rowers, the novice eights got the Black and White off to a strong start early Sunday morning. In the morning’s first race, the BU crew caught an over-the-head crab in the first twenty strokes, allowing Radcliffe to cruise to victory by three lengths and more than ten seconds.

Then, the second novice eights took to the course. Controversy soon ensued as the BU coxswain led the Terriers through the racing arch along with Radcliffe and Northeastern, causing the latter two boats to crash oars. The incident didn’t seem to bother the Black and White, which won the race by nearly five seconds, but Northeastern, which finished second, filed a protest. Ultimately, the officials refused to force a re-row and upheld the results.

Radcliffe’s momentum was broken slightly when Northeastern’s second varsity eight rallied from its third place position after 1800 meters in the final twenty strokes to force a photo finish. After reviewing the videotape of race’s finish, officials declared Northeastern the winner and gave second place to BU, two-tenths of a second ahead of Radcliffe. Indeed, the Terriers and the Black and White were so close that BU edged Radclife by less than a stroke.

The Black and White has fought to preserve some continuity despite lineup changes in each of its last several races, but Radcliffe could not pin down the cause of its disappointing performance.

“I felt like we rowed fairly well and we were plenty intense about,” sophomore Megan Smith said. “So I’m still not sure how we came up a little short in the end.”

But the Black and White recovered in the first varsity eight race, despite the absence of senior Raegan Kennedy due to injury. Inspired by the alumnae they met Saturday night—including members of a 1945 crew that beat a team of Harvard men—the Radcliffe rowers couldn’t wait for the race to begin.

When it finally did, adrenaline pushed the Black and White to an even higher stroke rating than it had planned during its new start sequence.

Radcliffe expected Northeastern to be its main competition and was surprised to see the Huskies lagging behind at first. The Black and White couldn’t get complacent, however, as BU managed to stay with Radcliffe for 750 meters. But the Black and White didn’t worry about the Terriers.

“We know that if we don’t focus on our own boat, we row badly,” sophomore Caryn Davies said. “So we knew we had to be calm. We kept our focus on our own boat and made sure we were rowing our best.”

And Radcliffe was, as it gained open water with a strong burst at 750 meters. The Black and White further extended its lead to 1.5 lengths with its patented “Radcliffe move” at the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, during which junior coxswain Cait Koss yelled “thirty years” in reference to the program’s history.

As University President Lawrence H. Summers watched with his daughter, Ruth, BU started its sprint 10 strokes early. Even that, though, couldn’t faze Radcliffe on this day, as it continued pulling away through the finish, eventually winning by two lengths in 6:43.3, its fastest time on the Charles this spring.

After the race, jubilation was the rule. Indeed, the younger Summers was so excited to watch the crew toss Koss into the Charles that her father arranged for the Radcliffe rowers to grant her the same treatment.

The day concluded with the varsity four races, where the Black and White “A’ boat finished second to Princeton, while the “B” crew won its race. The latter had spent the week working on starts and sprints to improve its performance at each end of the race.

“We knew we could hang [through the middle]” freshman Lacey Whitmire said. “But we really wanted to sharpen it up because we didn’t want to start down and we wanted to use up everything we had at the end.”

The strategy worked, as the varsity four “B” jumped out to its strongest start of the year and widened the gap throughout the first 1000 meters before cruising to the victory.

“Tradition has been a theme all year,” Whitmire said. “So it was good to solidify River [bragging] rights in front of [the alumnae],” Whitmire said.

W. Lightweights

On Saturday, the No. 3 Radcliffe lightweight varsity eight and varsity four raced well, but were overshadowed by No. 2 Princeton, the defending national champion.

The strong cross headwind provided the Black and White with a significant home course advantage compared to Princeton’s flat, sheltered, buoyed course.

“It’s like dragging something really heavy behind the boat, like a sofa or something,” sophomore Laura Spence said.

The familiarity with rough conditions seemed to serve the varsity eight well as it got off to a strong start and led through the first half of the race, despite a revamped lineup with changes in the stern.

Slowly, though, Princeton narrowed the gap and then moved ahead with a strong move in the third 500 meters of the race, eventually winning by over four seconds.

“We don’t really know what happened,” Spence said. “We kind of got a little frantic in the last 1,000 meters of the race. I think we still have to get over the mental obstacle that we actually can beat Princeton.”

The Black and White did defeat the Tigers earlier this season, but Princeton came back and beat Radcliffe soon thereafter.

Now, the task for the lightweight varsity eight is to combine Saturday’s start with the strong finish upon which the crew typically relies.

The varsity four race featured many of the same themes, with a Black and White boat still trying to become comfortable with a new lineup turning in a strong start, only to be caught from behind by the Tigers.

Still, Radcliffe was 25 seconds closer to Princeton than it had been only two weeks ago.

“It definitely didn’t feel like the best race,” sophomore Bonnie Scott said. “But I don’t think we let it fluster us too much.”

In fact, the weather made the Black and White’s performance even more impressive.

“Twelve seconds in a race that was that slow because of the conditions isn’t that big a margin,” sophomore Avaleigh Milne said.

* * *

On Friday, the Radcliffe crews leave for Eastern Sprints Championships, which will be held on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J. Some of the boats will be riding high after this weekend’s performances, while others will have to recover quickly from disappointment. Either way, they all know nothing will come easy.

“[At Eastern Sprints,] it’s never going to be a huge victory,” Smith said. “It’s always a dog fight.”