Radcliffe Lightweights Defeat Top-Ranked Rival Stanford

In five weeks time, the No. 2 Radcliffe lightweight crew team will head across the country to Sacramento, Calif., hoping to upset reigning champion No. 1 Stanford at the IRA National Championships. Until then, the Black and White will continue to train, now with the knowledge that they have already bested the Cardinals this season.

“It has been goal number one this season to be the best, and that obviously meant beating Stanford,” coach Michiel Bartman said.

Despite a tumultuous week in Boston that shuffled the Harvard athletics calendar, Radcliffe took to the Charles on Sunday morning, as the first varsity boat proved exactly how swift it could be.

On the tail of their teammates in the second varsity boat winning their race by eight seconds, the Black and White’s fastest eight lined up alongside cross-town rival Boston University, Ivy foe Princeton and title-favorite Stanford.

“It’s always hard to tell, but knowing the work we have done and the speed I see with my girls, I knew we had a pretty good chance of either being closer or being faster than Stanford, compared to last year,” Bartman said. “The way the second varsity rowed, I was pretty sure that the first varsity was also going to win.”

While the first 250 meters saw Radcliffe emerging with a slim lead, by the 500-meter mark, the advantage was decidedly the property of the Black and White. Radcliffe would never yield this full boat length, coming up on the halfway point in the race.

At the 1000-meter mark, when most teams that have fallen behind start to make their move ahead, the second-place Cardinals were unable to catch the Black and White, as Radcliffe increased its stroke rate and its lead.

By the time the boats had emerged from behind Harvard Bridge, the Black and White held a vast stretch of open water on its three opponents. The race was theirs; the favorites toppled, and Stanford and Princeton were left to battle for second and third. Radcliffe took the race by almost six seconds, with a time of 7:05.7 to the Cardinals’ 7:11.1.

Last June, the first eight and first-year coach Bartman broke a program drought by winning the first national medal since 2006. Having finished fourth for three years straight, the Black and White finally made it back onto the podium with a bronze medal behind winning Stanford and second-place Bucknell.

Sunday’s race represents the first time the varsity boat, which returns four rowers from last year’s IRA race, has seen the defending champions in a head-to-head sprint race.

New to the eight is sophomore Emma Framson, who moved up to the first boat after spending her rookie season in the second eight. Framson took to the bow seat, with classmates Claire Harmange and Taylor Garden following her closely in the two and three-seats, respectively.

“Especially after the long week we had in Boston, we were thankful such good competition could come out,” Framson said. “I think as a boat we really came together and we all really worked hard to prepare, and were really excited to have a chance to compete with such high competition.”

In the four-seat was Naomi Lang, the sole freshman to make the first eight, next to junior Katherine Mallett, who has raced with the varsity boat since her freshman season. Rounding out the boat was veteran six-seat Emma Lukasiewicz, sophomore Adelaide Backer in seven and last year’s stroke Elizabeth Lenczowski returning the eight-seat.

“It’s the rhythm of the group,” Bartman said. “Not just the eight, but it’s also the second varsity. Obviously there are girls in our second varsity that want to be in the first varsity…. It pushes the girls in the first varsity harder.”

Equally important is junior Erin Driscoll at coxswain, who coxed the second varsity and first four in 2012. Driscoll guided the varsity four to fourth place at last year’s IRA’s.

Together, the nine women have had tremendous success this spring, winning each of their three races thus far. The team has one dual race left, against MIT, before taking on a formidable field at Eastern Sprints and again at this year’s IRA’s.

“Every single day it’s a light atmosphere coming to the boathouse, and as soon as we’re in the boat, as soon as we’ve been working, it’s business,” Bartman said. “We try to make our water time as efficient as it can be. As soon as we’re off the water, we go back to our good preparation and relaxation. I think it’s a very good balance.”

—Staff writer Cordelia F. Mendez can be reached at cordeliamendez@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @CrimsonCordelia.