Mixed Weekend For Radcliffe Crew

The Radcliffe lightweights took to the Charles this past weekend to square off against No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 2 Stanford, Buffalo, UMass, and No. 8 MIT on Saturday and the Engineers once more on Sunday for the Muri Cup.

The heavyweights traveled to the Housatonic River to face Ancient Eight foe Yale for the Case Cup.

After a busy weekend for both crews, the No. 4 lightweight first varsity eight finished third behind varsity eight winner Wisconsin and runner-up Stanford, while the lightweight 2V won its race.

On Sunday, the Radcliffe lightweights ended their weekend with convincing victories against local-rivals MIT. With its win, the varsity eight retained the Muri Cup and Cambridge bragging rights.

“We had a good race,” junior lightweight rower Emma Lukasiewicz said. “We were able to stick with Stanford and Wisconsin up until the 1000, but then they pulled ahead and battled it on their own. We learned a lot from that race. We definitely found out what we need to improve on for our next races, so [Sunday] morning when we raced MIT we definitely acted on those improvements. We were pleased overall that our times were up there with Stanford and Wisconsin.”

In Connecticut, the heavyweights were outdueled on the Housatonic, forcing the Black and White to concede the Case Cup to Yale.

LIGHTWEIGHTS vs. WISCONSIN, STANFORD, MIT, UMASS, BUFFALO

The Black and White lightweights, coming off a strong start to the season against Georgetown two weeks ago, looked to feed off the momentum of its Class of 2004 Cup victory into a busy weekend filled with a strong lineup of possible national championship contenders.

After a series of heat races, four crews qualifed for the grand final: Stanford, Wisconsin, Radcliffe, and Buffalo.

With the start of the race, Radcliffe, Stanford, and Wisconsin all surged ahead, leaving Buffalo in last. By the 500-meter mark, Wisconsin gained a three-seat lead over the field as the Stanford and Radcliffe crews dueled for second.

Approaching the 750-meter point of the course, all three crews looked locked neck and neck. But by 250 meters later, Wisconsin and Stanford began pulling away from the Black and White. The Badgers and the Cardinal continued their quick pace down the river towards the finish line. At race’s end, Wisconsin emerged victorious, outlasting Stanford in the final meters of the race to win in a time of 7:24.9.

Stanford came in .8 seconds after Wisconsin, followed by Radcliffe (7:36.4) and Buffalo (8:09.8).

In the second varsity eight race, Radcliffe’s fortunes were reversed, as the Black and White 2V came from behind to defeat Wisconsin, Stanford, and MIT. At the start of the 2V race, Wisconsin took an early lead, five seats ahead of the Black and White. But in the final 500 meters of the race, the Radcliffe 2V found an additional gear and surged past the Badgers to win in 7:33.4, 4.5 seconds ahead of Wisconsin and nearly nine seconds ahead of third-place Stanford.

LIGHTWEIGHTS vs. MIT, MURI CUP

Following a Saturday packed with competitive races, the Black and White lightweights took to the Charles once more on Sunday in a clash against downstream rivals for the Muri Cup.

The Lightweights shined against the Engineers, cruising to victory in the 1V and novice races. In the varsity eight race, the Black and White dominated MIT, posting a time of 6:41.8, 33.8 seconds ahead of the Engineers.

“It’s a great tradition to race against MIT for the Muri Cup,” Lukasiewicz said. “The cup is named for the freshman men’s lightweight coach here at Harvard who is also a MIT alum, so it’s really neat to always have that dual meet with MIT on the Charles.”

“We had a great race despite the cold conditions,” Lukasiewicz added. “It was a tough race for both us and MIT [since] we had both raced the day before, but we had a great race and we are definitely headed in the right direction for the rest of the season.”

In the novice race, Radcliffe finished the course in 7:31.2, eight seconds before their Engineer counterparts.

HEAVYWEIGHTS vs. YALE

Looking to extend their ownership of the Case Cup one more year, the Black and White heavyweights took to the Housatonic against the Bulldogs. But unlike last season’s historic victory over Yale, the Bulldogs got the best of Radcliffe and retook the Case Cup.

In the marquee 1V race, Yale rowed to victory in a time of 6:46.0, 7.7 seconds ahead of the Black and White, who finished in 6:53.7.

In the second varsity race, the Radcliffe 2V topped its Yale counterpart, finishing 1.3 seconds ahead of the Bulldogs at 6:53.3.

—Staff writer Oluwatoni A. Campbell can be reached at oluwatoni.campbell@college.harvard.edu.