Not content to rest on its pre-Commencement laurels, the Radcliffe heavyweight crew ventured to the National Championships in Oakridge, Tenn., last week, rowing in a dozen races and finishing in the top five in the three major events.

Yesterday the oarswomen took a fourth in the elite eights competition and a fifth in the senior eights race, proving themselves among the best in the country.

In the neck-and-neck elite final, won by Oregon state--allowed to enter only a half hour before the race--the spread among the top four boats was only a few seats.

The boat might have placed higher in the senior eights final had the race not begun before the Radcliffe shell was ready. Coxswain Meg Ziegler said afterwards that although the crew plied extra hard to make up lost ground, their opponents' premature start hindered the crew's chances.

Radcliffe lodged a protest that regatta officials denied.

Earlier in the week, the heavies copped a fourth-place finish in the collegiate division, won by Cal-Berkeley.

An hour and a half after the senior eights final, the oarswomen were back on the course again for the elite sprint, which climaxed an exhausting but exhilarating week (and year) of rowing for the Radcliffe boat. Team members reported from the Holiday Inn in Oakridge that a good time was had by all.

THE NOTEBOOK: The Radcliffe lightweights also took part, and the half-varsity, half-J.V. entourage had mixed results... Heavy coach Carie Graves was absent from the regatta; she is in New York with the U.S. Olympic squad that will tour Europe this summer.