Women's Lightweight Crew Wins Beanpot

Jessie J had already left Yardfest, but the Radcliffe lightweight crew team was still “Burnin’ Up” Saturday on the Charles. The lightweight team competed in and won the Beanpot over No. 4 BU and No. 8 MIT, while the heavyweight team—also in action on Saturday—lost against Ivy League rival No. 10 Yale.

Coming off a second-place finish at the Lightweight Invitational Regatta, the No. 3 Radcliffe lightweight team rounded out the regular season with a victory. The teams had to overcome a headwind that averaged nine miles per hour throughout competition.

Radcliffe’s varsity eight boat was coxed by junior Samantha Guhan and stroked by senior Adelaide Backer. Seniors Claire Harmange and Elizabeth MacEachern; juniors Naomi Lang, Gabby McNeill, and Olivia Henry; sophomore Elizabeth Pate; and freshman Ada Bielawski made up the rest of the boat.

The eight came in at 7:09.8, besting runner-up BU by five seconds. The Engineers placed third, posting a time of 7:37.0. The win was the third consecutive Beanpot victory for the Black and White.

“Overall, this day marked our team's best racing,” Harvard coach Lou Berl said. “We had a stiff, direct headwind which makes for a longer, tougher race but enables all crews to set their boats more easily compared to a tail wind.”

With this win the team also took home the Muri Cup, which it had won in each of the past seven years.

The JV boat finished second for Radcliffe with a time of 7:41.8. BU set the pace in that race, finishing ahead of the Black and White by seven seconds with a time of 7:34.3. MIT finished behind by open water, stopping the clock at 8:04.4.

In the varsity four race, the Black and White, coxed by Madeline Zabriskie and stroked by sophomore Erin Walk, again took home the honors, as its time of 8:48.7 was 20 seconds better than that of the Terriers.

The novice eight contingent was able to ride a strong showing into a victory. They notched a time of 8:23.5, besting the Engineers by over 40 seconds. BU did not field a novice eight at the competition.

“The field of lightweight teams may be small, but it is extremely competitive,” Berl said. “If all goes accordingly, we plan to find more speed in the week leading up to Sprints and are very excited to have an opportunity to race everyone again.”

On the heavyweight side, the No. 14 Black and White finally returned home for the first time this season to host the Nathaniel Case Cup against the Bulldogs. The strong, swirling gusts continued for the heavyweight races and contributed to occasional whitecaps over the course of competition.

The team was coming off a third-place finish at the Clemson Invitational last week, while Yale was coming off a loss to Princeton at the Eisenberg Cup.

The varsity eight, led by senior coxswain Jenny Wong and junior stroke Freddie Archibald, finished with a time of 7:06.6. The boat was seven seconds behind the pace of the Bulldogs, which crossed the finish line with a time of 6:59.0.

Radcliffe also dropped the second varsity event, which was the closest race of the day. Its time of 7:05.7 was three seconds behind Yale’s finish time of 7:02.0.

The Bulldogs were also able to come out on top in the varsity four, varsity four B, and the third varsity races.

The varsity four boat lost by open water, behind Yale by nearly 21 seconds. The B and C boats also lost, by 14 seconds and over a minute, respectively. The third varsity boat was behind the Yale boat by 17 seconds.

“Going into the next few weeks, we need to find out what works,” Radcliffe junior Gen Mulligan said. “We have all the right pieces, we just need to figure out how to fit them together.”