Radcliffe Novices Notch Third Straight Victory

Radcliffe crew closed out its fall season on its home river Saturday with strong finishes by veterans and a win from the novices at the Foot of the Charles Regatta.

On the tail of top Black and White novice showings at the Green Monster last weekend, the freshman heavyweights remained unbeaten. The 2.5-mile race marked the second outing for the lightweights, who competed alongside top heavyweight crews from around the Northeast.

HEAVYWEIGHTS

A total of seven Radcliffe heavyweight boats entered the three events and all but one finished in the top half of their respective races.

The novice eight won its third race of the season to finish the fall season with an undefeated record. The squad breezed by its competition with a time of 13:41, the fastest single time posted in the entire regatta.

The Black and White eclipsed the field by a considerable margin, finishing more than 20 seconds ahead of the next fastest boat. The Boston College squad finished in 14:04, while the boat from Boston University trailed in third with a time of 14:10.

“It was a really great race,” said freshman bow seat Genevieve Mulligan. “It felt really set and powerful. We walked away from the boat that was in front of us, which was good. [Our piece] felt really powerful the whole way.”

The novice eight boat has had a dominant fall. The crew was victorious at Head of the Housatonic last month and at the Green Monster on Nov. 3, winning each of its races by at least 14 seconds.

The four Radcliffe entrants in the varsity four race were composed of the top 16 rowers from across the program.

Syracuse bested the competition with a win in 13:50, topping the fastest Radcliffe boat by eight seconds. The Black and White B boat placed second with a time of 13:58 while the A boat followed in third place with a time of 14:10.

Syracuse and Radcliffe B were the only fours to break the 14-minute mark. The Black and White C and D entries placed eighth and 18th, respectively, in the field of 42 boats. Just over one minute separated the fastest and slowest Radcliffe squads.

The final event of the day, the third varsity eight race, featured another quick finish from the Black and White.

First to start, the A boat outpaced its competition initially, but fell to the crew from Rhode Island, which surged mid race and finished first. The Rams posted a time of 13:57, two seconds ahead of Radcliffe’s 13:59. The Black and White B boat finished 11th, with a time of 14:54.

LIGHTWEIGHTS

The Radcliffe lightweight crews raced against heavyweights, as the weight classes are not separated at the Foot of the Charles.

“Yesterday was a really fantastic day for the fours,” said co-captain Veronique Irwin, who did not race. “For all three of our fours to finish in the top 20 of a race of over 40 [boats] that are predominately heavyweights is great.”

In the varsity fours, Radcliffe placed in 12th, 15th, and 20th overall but had the top three times among lightweight squads. The Black and White A boat finished in 14:33, with the B and C boats coming in at 14:47 and 15:02, respectively. The next fastest lightweight boat was MIT’s A boat, which trailed behind with a time of 15:14.

“We had a really big range of fours: one that was mostly freshmen, one that was mostly sophomores, and one that was a mix of juniors and seniors,” Irwin said. “It was really cool to see the whole range do so well. It’s awesome to see the depth of our team.”

In the novice eight, the lightweights came in 11th overall and were second in their weight class behind the BU crew. The Terriers clocked in at 15:11, followed by the Black and White at 15:44.

Radcliffe was first among lightweights and sixth overall in the third varsity eight race with a time of 14:20, putting it ahead of Buffalo and MIT.

“It’s been our best fall season in a really long time,” Irwin said. “It’s all about just working hard through the winter.”