NEW PRESTON, Conn.--The Radcliffe varsity heavyweight crew sprinted past Princeton in the last 30 strokes of the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Sprints here on Lake Waramaug yesterday to grab third place in the championship finals, just 3.5 seconds behind first-place Yale.

The Elis, who beat the women in black by ten seconds in a dual race on the Charles two weeks ago, won the Governor's Cup in a lightning quick 4:53.6. Perenially strong Wisconsin copped second in 4:55.8, while Radcliffe followed in 4:57.1, a mere five-tenths of a second ahead of the Tigers. Penn and Williams placed fifth and sixth to round out the field.

Despite a heavy cloud cover and intermittent rain, conditions were almost ideal for racing. The flat water, the well-buoyed course, and the swift current combrined to produce fast times throughout the day.

Led by sophomore stroke Therese Munoz, who moved up from the six seat just a week ago, the heavies jacked it up to 43 strokes per minute at the start. After 20 strokes, coxswain Meg Ziegler called for a power 20 and the heavies settled to a 38.

The women in black settled again to about 34-35, but Yale moved out fairly quickly as Radcliffe, Wisconsin and Princeton battled for second down the first 500 meters of the 1500-meter course.

Yale, Wisconsin and Princeton moved away from the 'Cliffe eight in the middle 500, but the heavies rowed smoothly through the body of the race. Holding on to fourth place, Ziegler made her move with 500 to go, calling the cadence up to 36.

With 30 strokes left in the race, Princeton clung tightly to third, a half-length ahead of the Radcliffe boat. The heavies took it to 37 and then to 39-40, rowing solidly through the Tigers to nab third by a half-second.

"Our sprint was amazing," bow seat Nelia Worsley said after the race. "If Meg had known, if anyone had known we would move like that, we would have sprinted earlier and caught Wisco."

"We rowed our own race," Munoz said, and Ziegler agreed. "It was the first time we haven't been flustered when we were behind," the coxswain said.

The two-to-qualify heat in the morning was a portent of things to come.

As the unreasonably low seventh seed, the heavies drew a heat with Yale and Dartmouth, both of which had beaten the squad earlier in the season. The heavies handled the Big Green easily, however, cruising to second behind Yale with more than a length to spare.

The J.V. heavies placed fifth in their final, ten seconds behind the winning Wisconsin eight.