Mixed Results for Radcliffe Crew

It was a tale of two teams for the Radcliffe crew teams on Saturday, as the lightweights triumphed over Georgetown with a sweep at home while the heavyweights failed to win a race against Brown in Providence, R.I.

LIGHTWEIGHTS

The Radcliffe lightweights displayed their comfort on the familiar waters of the Charles on Saturday as the team swept the visiting Hoyas with wins in the varsity eight and varsity four.

The boat of eight for the Black and White finished with open water over Georgetown to win the Class of 2004 Cup, posting a time of 7:31.3, more than 30 seconds faster than the Hoyas.

In the varsity four, Radcliffe entered three boats against a single Georgetown squad, and all three boats for the Black and White finished ahead of the Hoyas.

“I am just very, very proud of our entire team,” captain Andrea Linares said. “I think it says a lot about us to come in and have the 1V have a very decisive win over Georgetown and have our three boats finish first, second, and third in the 4V.”

The Radcliffe B boat earned the victory with a time of 8:42.3, edging out its teammates in the A boat who finished four seconds back at 8:46.9. The Radcliffe C crew crossed the line next with a time of 9:09.2 as the Hoyas brought up the rear and finished with a mark of 9:21.0.

“This is only our second race, so we are still very early in the season,” Linares said. “I think each boat has stuff that they need to work on, particularly the starts and the sprints at the finish. Knowing we have a lot to work on is a great thing because we have a lot of time on the water to improve.”

HEAVYWEIGHTS

The Radcliffe heavyweights began their season in Providence on Saturday against preseason No. 9 Brown. The closest race of the day came in the first varsity eight, where the Bears edged the Black and White for the victory with a winning time of 6:21.80.

Radcliffe finished five seconds behind with a time of 6:26.80.

This year marked the second consecutive season that the Black and White’s first varsity eight has dropped its opening race to the Bears.

“Brown is renowned to be very fast off the line,” junior stroke Eliza Flint said. “They are also a team that will fight to the very end. We came in knowing we needed to be fast off the line and powerful through the water to really execute our race plan. All our boats performed well. However, unfortunately, Brown came out on top.”

Radcliffe’s second varsity eight, which earned a victory over Brown last year, was unable to duplicate the result this season as the crew dropped the race to the Bears on Saturday.  Brown’s win was never in doubt, and the Bears finished with a commanding 20-second lead over the Black and White for an overall time of 6:34.90.

It was much of the same for the Radcliffe third varsity eight, which finished with a time of 7:19.90, a full 16 seconds behind Brown’s third squad.

In the varsity four races, Brown showcased its depth on the way to two more victories over the Black and White.  The Bears’ first varsity four finished with a time of 7:35.30, once again beating a Radcliffe boat by over 16 seconds.

Perhaps more impressively, Brown’s second varsity four crossed the line with a time of 7:42.10, just seven seconds behind the top boat for the Bears. The second varsity four for Radcliffe actually beat its first boat by two seconds, finishing with a mark of 7:49.10.

“We figured out [this weekend] that we need to gain more speed,” Flint said. “For the first varsity boat, we have nailed down the specific part of the stroke that will gain us that speed which is great. This week we are going to put a huge emphasis on improving that part of the stroke.”

—Staff writer Ty Aderhold can be reached at michael.aderhold@thecrimson.com.