The Radcliffe varsity heavyweight crew crushed the Middletown High School crew by three and one-half lengths in a race on Lake Beseck in Middlefield, Connecticut, Saturday. Radcliffe completed the 1000-meter course in 3:45 with Middletown following at 4:03.

The race was never in doubt. Avoiding the bad start that beset Radcliffe in its race against Yale last week, Radcliffe blasted past Middletown from the outset with an initial cadence of 39 for the first 15 strokes.

Coxswain Nancy Hadley said, "It was a better start than last week, although it doesn't really have the snap to it that it should have."

Stroke Alison Hill settled to a comfortable 34 and Radcliffe gained on Middletown with every stroke. By the 500-meter mark, Radcliffe had increased its margin to two lengths, and remained in control the rest of the way.

Hadley said, "The body of the race, especially the middle 500, was our strongest part."

Coach John Baker, in an effort to get a smoother rowing boat, made one change from last week in the starting line-up, moving Captain Connie Cervilla up to the number seven position, with Robin Lothrop going to the bow.

Settled Down

"They settled down a bit this week and they got a chance to row together," Baker said. "We have four new people in the boat and it will take them a while to get where they have to go."

Hadley added, "The crew was in a better state of mind than last week, but we aren't nearly as aggressive as we have to be."

In the junior varsity race, Radcliffe had an easy time with the Middletown second boat. The J.V.s finished in 3:57 with Middletown far behind at 4:45.

Radcliffe faces Princeton next week on the Charles in its biggest race of the season thus far.