Radcliffe and Yale crew.

The two top-ranked women's teams in the East.

A race to earn regular-season bragging rights and a psychological edge at the Eastern Sprint Championships.

A close match? A nip-and-tuck battle?

No. The visiting Black and White virtually blew the Elis out of the water, winning the 2000-meter race by a startling 11.5 seconds and erasing all doubts about which school has the best varsity boat on the East Coast.

"In some ways, it wasn't a surprise," stroke Allison Townley said. "We weren't overconfident, so nobody rowed like it was a sure thing."

"We expected to have a solid, hard race," rower Debbie Porterfield added. But "we had a very encouraging week of training. Everybody was trying to have a big margin [of victory]...it was very exciting."

Because New Haven's Rocsatonic River has a pronounced curve in the middle, the boats must start the race with a three-seat stagger. Radcliffe got off to a good start, and slowly made up the stagger on Yale. By the 500-meter mark, the visitors had pulled ahead for good.

The race provided the Black and White with a large boost of momentum, as the squad prepares to face the nationally top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers at Easterns in two weeks.

Wisconsin should offer Radcliffe its stiffest competition of the year.

The Black and White has edged every boat this season by at least five seconds. But with Wisconsin presenting more of a threat, Radcliffe may need to row hard at the finish for the first time this spring.

To be selected to compete at Cincinnati's National Championships, the Black and White will have to impress at Easterns--and beating the Badgers would clearly accomplish that goal.

THE NOTEBOOK: Last year, Radcliffe went into Easterns with a 2-3 record and finished fifth, seconds out of first place. Nonetheless, the crew was selected to compete at Nationals, where it also finished fifth.