All they needed was about 20 meters more.

They ripped powerful Wisconsin. They left neighboring MIT, defending champ Yale and archrival Princeton staring into their Wake. But all that proved little consolation to the Radcliffe heavies yesterday, as upstart Penn stole the national crown from under Black and White oars by a fraction of a second.

The Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges' championship regatta concluded on Lake Waramug in New Preston, conn., with the Radcliffe heavyweight oarswomen about one-and-a-half seats behind the strong Penn boat. Penn recorded a time of 4:53.5 over the 1500-meter course to Radcliffe's 4:54.3.

Coach Carie Graves' charges rowed a characteristically aggressive race. Penn, however, managed to jump out to a one-length lead by the time the crews passed the first 500 meters.

By the halfway mark, the chase for the Governor's Cup essentially had boiled down to a two-boat battle. Radcliffe kept climbing on the leader, with a smoothly pulled 500 meters and an exceptional final sprint to the finish.

But the oarswomen's last gasps fell just short of their quest for the first Radcliffe Eastern title since 1976.

"It was probably the most frustrating moment of my life, coming so close without winning," senior co-captain Kelly Ronan said last night. "We've never sprinted so well--any boat that beat us really deserved it."

Ronan traced the eventual defeat to the heavies' first 500 meters. "After the first 500, we were as tough as we've ever been. If we'd rowed the beginning a little sharper... or if the race had been 20 meters longer... but we can't feel badly about the race we rowed."

The Easterns capped the fine careers of Ronan, senior stroke Jenny Stone and co-captain Karen Spencer.

The path followed by the heavy oars-women this season was laced with triumphs. After disposing of B.U. and Northeastern in routine fashion, the crew proceeded to swamp all comers in match races. But it never got a shot at Penn until the Sprints; and in yesterday's final, Radcliffe was placed two lanes away from the eventual victors.

Coach Duane Hickling's squad won its heat, as did Radcliffe and Wisconsin, setting up a classic showdown in the afternoon final.

That final, Ronan said, was "the best race we've rowed." But, she added wistfully, "I'd like to have a match race with Penn."

Perhaps over 1520 meters.