Princeton Jumps Out Early, Takes Down W. Heavyweight Crew

When a pair of giant rams locks horns, it is really only those not present to witness the spectacle who lose.

Such was the case Saturday morning, when the No. 3 Radcliffe heavyweight women’s crew did battle with No. 1 Princeton on the Charles River for the Class of ’75 Cup.

Spewing water and unleashing groans of exertion, the Black and White first varsity boat came just short in a furious chase of the Tigers, falling by a margin of 2.3 seconds.

“We knew that we needed to row our best to win,” senior six-seat Mollie Durkin said. “The rankings really aren’t much of a concern for us; we just approach each race one week at a time.”

Pouncing off the line to a three-quarter length lead, Princeton held the advantage to the 500-meter mark. The Tigers augmented their advantage by the next 500-meter marker, but Radcliffe managed to take back two seats at the halfway point.

The Black and White kept up the pressure through the next 1,000 meters, nipping at the heels of Princeton.

“We just went out there knowing that each stroke is important,” Durkin said. “We didn’t have a particular move to overtake them we just worked to come back into them after they went up a length in the first thousand.”

The Tigers were able to maintain their powerful pace and fend off the charging Radcliffe vessel, crossing the line in 6:24.5, ahead of the Black and White (6:26.8) and the ignored step-child Cornell (6:50.0).

“We raced a good race,” Durkin said. “Princeton just happened to be better that day. There are always things to work on which is what we will do this week in order to get faster for next weekend. We are all excited to race Princeton again on May 15.”

The Tigers (6:42.7) also managed to take the second varsity race, edging out Radcliffe (6:50.0) and the Big Red (6:52.3).

“We were out-stroked,” sophomore seven-seat Katie Golden said. “We need to work on our rate. We were obviously upset, but I think if anything, we were more determined to kick it up a notch.”

Meanwhile, the varsity four events were dominated by the Black and White. The “A” quartet left the boats from Cornell and Princeton in their wake, dashing to an 11.1 second victory over the Big Red (7:28.1 to 7:39.2) and 14.3 second win over the Tigers (7:42.4). The “B” race was a bit tighter, with Radcliffe (7:52.7) edging Princeton (7:55.8) by 3.1 ticks.

Cornell (6:59.3) took the first novice eight race over the Tigers (7:04.0) and the Black and White (7:09.5), as Radcliffe (8:10.5) snatched the second novice eight contest ahead of the Big Red (8:14.6).

The Radcliffe heavies will travel north next Saturday to take on No. 15 Syracuse as well as Ivy rival Dartmouth.

—Staff writer J. Patrick Coyne can be reached at coyne@fas.harvard.edu.