Black and White Impress at Head of the Charles

On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, Radcliffe heavyweight and lightweight crew both took to the Charles to race against some of the best competition in the world in the 49th edition of the Head of the Charles Regatta.

HEAVYWEIGHTS

In both the Club and Championship divisions, the Crimson placed highly. The heavyweight club eight rowed to a course record, posting a time of 16:41.930—including a final split of 2:54.995—to best Brown. The Club Eight was coxed by junior Victoria Lellis with sophomore Rose Traubert in the bow, followed by junior Eleanor Parker, freshman Emily Gaudiani, freshman Abigail Parker, sophomore Sofia Jonas, freshman Kelsey Barolak, senior Maura Church and freshman Isabella Benduski.

Radcliffe raced two boats in the championship division. The first varsity boat place seventh, with a time of 17:00.641, finishing behind the Cambridge Boat Club team and the USRowing Boat. Junior Jenny Wong coxed the boat, with sophomore Mary Carmack, senior Deva Steketee, junior Mimi Tanski, sophomore Lauren Tracey, sophomore Rederika Archibald, senior Katie Wilcox, junior Elizabeth Fitzhenry and senior Jenny Gregiore on oars. The second varsity boat placed 33rd.

The Black and White also entered a boat in the championship fours, placing 16th overall with a time of 19:53.992

“Across the board we are all really happy with our performance,” Tracey said.

The Head of the Charles is the highlight of a relatively slow fall season, but competing against a high level of competition provides Radcliffe with a barometer for its spring performance.

“It’s October,” Tracey said. “This is a stepping stone, [albeit] a big stepping stone. We are always looking to get stronger as a team, for everyone to get stronger. This team has a chance to be really awesome in the spring.”

LIGHTWEIGHTS

The Radcliffe lightweight team performed strong as well, including a stellar second place finish by the first varsity boat.

Finishing with a time of 17:15.232, the Black and White edged out Wisconsin for the best collegiate finish by over six seconds. Only Minerva Rowing Club out of the Netherlands finished ahead of the Radcliffe crew. The first varsity boat was coxed by senior Erin Driscoll, with sophomore Gabrielle McNeill, junior Claire Harmange, freshman Ruby Emberling, sophomore Naomi Lang, senior Katherine Mallet, junior Elizabeth MacEachern, junior Adelaide Backer and senior Elizabeth Lenczowski rowing.

“It was a great start to the season, we were really happy to finish first out of the collegiate eights,” said Lenczowski “It was a really strong showing.”

The Black White also delivered a strong showing in the championships four division, ranking third with a time of 20:01.652.  The boat rowed by Olivia Henry, Devi Lockwood, Taylor Garden and Andrea Linares and coxed by Gabrielle Giugliano finished less than two seconds behind second place UMass.

The lightweight team had been practicing all fall without an official head coach, due to the transition of its former coach to the men’s lightweight team.

“We’ve been fortunate to have our assistant coach Lauren Fisher and she has been assisting us throughout the fall and in preparation for the Head of the Charles,” Lenczowski said.

Next week, new head coach Lou Berl will step in after leaving her position as the head of the Trinity College team, her alma mater. She led the Bantams to both regional and NCAA championship race appearances.

Along with acting as a litmus test for the teams going into the spring season, the Head of the Charles serves as a celebration for all rowers, including those on the Radcliffe squad. An estimated 400,000 spectators came to watch the races.

“The great thing about the Head of the Charles is a big family reunion for all the rowers,” Tracey said. “I got to see some of my friends who row at other schools. My friend described it as a ‘Rower Christmas.’ This is my fifth year rowing here, and still having all those people cheering for you is really exciting.”

Along with rowers from all over, Radcliffe rowing alums come back to support the present boats.

“It is pretty amazing to be part of the race and to have so much support and to have so much support from the Harvard rowing community,” Lenczowiski said. “A lot of our alums come back and cheer us on and it’s a really fun weekend.

—Staff writer Jacob W. Lynch can be reached at jacoblync@gmail.com.