Radcliffe Excels in First Spring Races

With each new season come great expectations.

With the season-opening weekend now in the books, the Radcliffe Lightweight and Heavyweight crews both made solid starts to their seasons by displaying strong performances in their races on Saturday and Sunday.

While the lightweights stayed home on the Charles River to host Buffalo, the Heavyweight crews traveled to San Diego to participate in the Crew Classic.

SAN DIEGO CREW CLASSIC

Powerhouse crews from all over the country descended upon Mission Bay, Calif. for the 37th installment of the San Diego Crew Classic, and the Radcliffe Heavyweights showed why they belong in the conversation for national honors this season.

Both the Black and White varsity eight and second varsity eight crews qualified for the final round on opening day of competition on Saturday.

The 14th-ranked varsity eight finished third in its heat, edging out UC Davis by less than a second—6:59.45 to the Aggies’ 6:59.52—to claim a spot in the finals. No. 3 Virginia led all varsity eight crews with a time of 6:39.00.

“We had a little of trouble at the start of the race,” captain Laura Huppert said. “But we eventually found our rhythm. What mattered to us though was that we got the job done, and we did what we needed to do [to qualify for the finals]. It was a good opportunity to figure out what we needed to work on for Sunday and get out there on the course.”

The competition was not nearly as close for the Black and White second varsity, as Radcliffe finished second in its heat with a time of 7:13.78, a comfortable 11 seconds ahead of the next boat in its race.

But the Black and White’s momentum would end there.

In Sunday’s final rounds, both crews struggled on the water, as the varsity eight took fifth place with a time of 6:53.33. Once again, Virginia led all crews, followed by USC, UCLA, and Washington State.

Meanwhile, the second varsity finished sixth in its respective heat, finishing just 2.47 seconds behind UCLA with a time of 6:59.54.

Both crews used the Crew Classic as an opportunity to prepare for league competition, and the Black and White is hoping that the trip out west will pay off for the relatively young crews.

“It’s great to race—so many boats so early in the season,” Huppert said. “We’re really excited to keep building for the rest of the season, and we expect nothing but an upward trajectory.”

HARVARD VS. BUFFALO

A chilly Saturday morning with strong tailwinds provided challenging conditions for the Radcliffe lightweights.

Regardless, both the Black and White varsity eight and second varsity eight had no problem taking care of Buffalo, finishing with times of 7:03.93 and 7:13.04, respectively, while the Bulls—which sent only one boat to the Charles—completed the course with a time of 7:17.04.

“It was challenging conditions for everyone out there,” Harvard coach Heather Cartwright said. “[The tailwind] increased significantly through the second half of the course and the water got a lot rougher…but I thought that our athletes did well today. For our first race, it was a good beginning for us.”

The winner of the race was decided early on, as the varsity eight gained a considerable lead in the first 500 meters of the course, pulling ahead of both the second varsity and the Bulls.

“We got off to a good start by establishing a very good rhythm in the first half of the race,” Cartwright said.

With the departure of three seniors from last year’s crews and a large freshman class, Cartwright brings back a team filled with both experience and youth—while the varsity eight is filled with mostly returning starters, more than half of the team is comprised of freshmen.

But last weekend’s race proved that the Black and White has the perfect balance of leadership and raw talent to succeed this season.

“Going forward we have a lot to work on,” Cartwright said. “We have to gain more speed, and we need to refine our technique and work on our race plan…But we definitely rowed well for our first race.”

The Radcliffe heavyweights will remain on the road next week, as they will travel to Brown to begin conference competition. The lightweights will remain on the Charles to take on Georgetown on Saturday.

—Staff writer Kevin T. Chen can be reached at ktchen@fas.harvard.edu.