The Radcliffe heavyweights plied their way to a convincing victory Saturday, leaving Princeton and Cornell in their wake at Ithaca, N.Y.

In marked contrast to its season-opening triumph over hometown rivals MIT and Northeastern on the windswept Charles, the Black and White enjoyed perfect rowing conditions on the Cornell course and broke the five-minute barrier, posting an impressive time of 4:58.

But most encouraging was the modus operandi. The crew jumped out in front early in the 1500-meter regatta, and stayed on top all the way. Princeton wound up second, almost two boat lengths behind, and Cornell trailed far behind, almost 19 seconds off the pace.

The Radcliffe shell held a one-length lead at 500 meters, but Princeton gained about two seats before the oarswomen went to a power 20 near the two-thirds mark and put the New Jersey squad away.

The result bodes well for the oars-women's prospects. Cornell fell but a few seats short of upsetting a Yale boat ravaged by graduation, but failed to pose even the mildest threat to Radcliffe. Last year, Yale topped the Black and White in a regular season matchup, and then copped the Eastern Sprints title.

The oarswomen must now prepare for a home race (their last) against a formidable Dartmouth boat which edged the heavyweights by an excruciating fifth of a second last season.

Coach Carie Graves juggled the lineup for the race, using the "Tubby and-Stubby" combination of senior co-captions Karen Spencer and Kelly Ronan in the bow. The strategy paid off in spades.

"We were particularly concerned about beating Princeton--we knew they would be tough competition," Spencer, who occupied the two seat, said yesterday.

Ronan, who rowed the bow position, said, "It was a big win. We beat Princeton twice last year, and we knew they would be pysched."

While the crew will not have much time to savor the win, it can bask in the knowledge that both an undefeated record and a victory at the Sprints loom as a firm possibility.

"We were especially pleased we could win so strongly," sophomore five-seat Tory Laughlin said yesterday.

Kate Butler, who occupied the third seat Saturday, characterized the shell as "not always smooth, but extremely aggressive." She added that the weekend race "hurt more than ever," a sign that the Black and. White is pulling harder and doing better.