Lake Waramaug, nestled well off the beaten path in tiny New Preston, Conn., might not see much hustle or bustle during the course of the school year.

But yesterday it played host to one traditional, action-packed rite of spring--the Eastern Sprints.

Radcliffe boats joined women's crews from across the east in the annual highlight of the racing season, competing in several divisions on the 1950-meter course.

The only Black and White crew to bring home a first place crown was the varsity lightweight four, which pulled to a 21-second margin over second place Pennsylvania.

"We were worried a bit about UPenn," boat member Kathy Cox said. "They looked big, and pretty fit, and they got out ahead at the beginning."

Radcliffe managed to draw ahead around the 300-meter mark, and maintained its lead over the Quakers and third place Cornell.

Less fortunate, however, were the Black and White's two top eights, both of which finished second behind tough Wisconsin crews.

And both of which entered the Sprints undefeated.

The Badgers, however, were undefeated as well. And by the end of the afternoon, their status--unlike Radcliffe's--hadn't changed.

Technology?

In the varsity race, Radcliffe lost to Wisconsin by 2.7 seconds--less than a boat length--while covering three quarters of the course without a working "cox box."

Less than 500 meters into the race, coxswain Mary Boland's communication system broke down, leaving all but a few people in the stern unable to hear her calls.

"A very good boat is more than the sum of its individual rowers," Boland said. "Everyone pulled real hard but [the malfunction] had some effect on the race, especially the sprint--it was very disorganized. We just didn't add up to much."

Nonetheless, individual effort kept the Black and White close to the Badgers, and far ahead of the other competing crews.

"It was almost like there were two races going on," Co-Captain Joyce Gallagher said. "We were out there racing Wisconsin, and then the three, four, five and six boats were very close to each other."

But Wisconsin--currently ranked first in the country after defeating five-time defending national champ Washington earlier in the year--held off Radcliffe to secure the victory.

Likewise, the JV Badgers edged the Black and White JV entry by less than a boat length.

Radcliffe and Brown jumped to an early lead, but as the Black and White pulled ahead of the Bruins, the Badgers made a move of their own, vaulting into the lead.

The race marked the first time the Radcliffe JV had competed with its newest lineup, featuring Vicky Keane at stroke in place of the injured Liza Paschal.

"It worked out pretty well, since we only got together on Thursday," Co-Captain Mary Farrell said. "We'd raced five weeks with the other boat, and had beaten everybody."

But despite a sprint late in the race, the Black and White couldn't catch the Badgers, and had to settle for its first loss of the season.

Petite Threes

For the JV lightweight eight, the big question last week wasn't what lineup to send to the Sprints, but what race to enter. When competition from Penn failed to materialize, the lights had to choose between several options--one of which was to petition to enter the JV heavyweight race.

A coaches' panel okayed the move early last week, freeing the lightweights to enter the heavyweight final-qualifying heats. The crew finished fourth in the heats, and third in the petite finals, a consolation race.

In other action, the heavyweight varsity four placed third in petite finals, and the first novice shell finished sixth in grand finals. Both the second and third novices copped petite final titles.