Tradition's wake on the Charles

'Cliffe heavies

May 13, 1979--The seventh-seeded Radcliffe heavies shoot past Princeton in the last 30 strokes of the Eastern Sprints to grab third place behind Yale and Wisconsin in the Super Bowl of women's crew in New Preston, Conn.

The squad had accumulated a 2-2 record in the regular season, the season highlight coming on April 15, when the 'Cliffe heavies smoked Princeton and Cornell on Lake Carnegie in New Jersey.

Men's lights

May 13, 1979--The undefeated junior varsity lightweights win their event and the varsity finishes a disappointing third in the Eastern Sprints in Worcester; but the performance is good enough to gain Harvard the Jope Cup, signifying the best overall lightweight performance in the Sprints.

The varsity lights came into the season promising that it would take "No prisoners," but two defeats by Yale left the oarsmen stung by the continuing domination of their arch-rivals.

'Cliffe lights

May 13, 1979--The Radcliffe lights finish second in the Eastern Sprints in New Preston, Conn., to a powerful Boston University crew, a virtual repeat of the two crews' race earlier in the season.

Coach Peter Huntsman reshuffled his boat several times, and the women in black bedeviled Williams and Cornell; but they never could triumph over the Terriers.

Diamond mine at Blodgett

March 4, 1979--Harvard's athletic year reaches the zenith with Crimson swimmers dazzling more than 100 screaming fans at Blodgett Pool as the aquamen smoke past Princeton to win the Easterns.

In a year that saw Joe Bernal's talented troops casually cast aside dual meet competitions to amass a perfect record, embarrassing Yale and edging Princeton, 59-54, the swimmers had the answer for virtually every challenge.

While diving coach John Walker and Bernal enjoyed champagne, cigars and gainers from the high board to celebrate the Eastern victory, the memory of moments like Mike Coglin's breathtaking anchor leg in the 800-yd. freestyle relay on the second night of the Easterns, giving Harvard a .03-second win over favored Princeton, heightened the euphoria.

The win, the first Eastern title in the University's history and the end of a six-year Princeton reign, brought the sweetest satisfaction to a team loaded with record-breakers and sharp personalities. Freshman Ron Raikula, taking 13th at the NCAAs in the 200-yd. backstroke, diver Steve Schramm, advancing to national competition after hitting his head on the board in practice before the qualifying rounds, and Bobby Hackett, triumphing at the NCAAs in the face of a team let-down were just a few of the jewels in the Harvard crown.