No. 13 W. Heavies Topple No. 3 Princeton

The last time the Radcliffe heavyweight crew beat Princeton in a head-to-head race, the Berlin Wall was still standing.

The No. 13 Black and White defeated the No. 3 Tigers for the first time since 1989 while also taking care of No. 14 Cornell and Wisconsin on Lake Carnegie in N.J. on Saturday.

Princeton got off to a fast start in a headwind, leaving Radcliffe in its wake through the first 30 strokes until the Black and White settled into its rhythm and began moving on the Tigers.

“Princeton has always been known to have a fast start,” senior stroke Sarah Marvel said. “We were prepared for that so we knew how to handle it.”

Radcliffe walked through the Princeton boat and extended its lead to seven seats by the time the Black and White crossed the finish line in 7:01.1, more than two seconds ahead of the Tigers, 17 in front of the Big Red and 28 before Wisconsin.

“The coxswain just kept screaming ‘Oh, my God’ and we were all just smiling,” Marvel said. “It was a great row back to the dock.”

Radcliffe also captured the varsity four event in 8:08.9, gaining open water by the 600-meter mark and beating out runner-up Wisconsin by eight seconds. Princeton followed four seconds behind the Badgers and just ahead of Cornell.

The Tigers took the top spot in the second varsity race, winning in 7:10.2, while the Black and White finished second in 7:12.49. Princeton also won the first novice and varsity four B events, while Radcliffe finished fourth and second, respectively. Cornell grabbed its only win of the day in the second novice eight, beating Radcliffe by 18 seconds.

The race was the Black and White’s first official competition of the season, as its first two regattas were cancelled due to poor weather conditions, leaving Radcliffe as the unknown factor in a competitive field.

“We were definitely very positive about [the race] because we know that we have some really strong people in the boat and we’ve been rowing very well the last week, but we really had no idea,” co-captain Courtney Brown said. “We’ve been able to beat Princeton by the end of the season, but usually they’re stronger than we are in the beginning of the season.”

Opening the spring with a win over the No. 3 team in the country certainly raises eyebrows, in addition to breaking the Black and White’s 13-year streak of head-to-head futility against the Tigers. The last time Radcliffe beat Princeton, in 1989, was also the last time the Black and White won the EAWRC title at Eastern Sprints.

The Radcliffe rowers cite the extra indoor training forced upon them by the long winter as contributing to their outstanding strength and conditioning so early in the season.

“Since the river was frozen for such a long time, we had to do a lot of indoor training and I think that’s made us stronger this year,” Marvel said. “We also have a really deep team this year, which helps a lot.”

The Black and White next challenges No. 17 Syracuse and Dartmouth on Saturday in a race that is tentatively set for the Connecticut River. Last year, Radcliffe beat the Orangewomen by five seconds.

“Syracuse was a great race last year,” Brown said. “I’d love to repeat what we did last year.”

—Staff writer Jessica T. Lee can be reached at lee45@fas.harvard.edu.