Flying a national championship banner above Newell Boathouse is nothing new for the men's heavy-weight crew program, but for the first time ever, there's a title flag flying high above Weld Boathouse, home of Radcliffe crew.

The Crimson heavyweights polished one of its most impressive seasons ever with a 2.43-second win over the second-place University of Washington boat at the national championship Cincinnati Regatta June 17. By that time, the Radcliffe novice heavyweights had already concluded their undefeated season by topping second-place Wisconsin by more than six seconds June 4 at the Women's Collegiate Nationals in Madison, Wisc.

One For the Thumb

But the talk of the Charles continues to be the men's heavy-weight crew, which blew away Yale by 38.3 seconds June 10 before winning its third-straight national title and fifth in the last seven years.

The Crimson outlasted a six-boat field to win the Herschede Cup for the national title. Trailing Northeastern and Penn, Harvard stroked a power 20 after the 1000-meter mark, pulling out to a half-boat length lead. The Crimson extended its lead to the final margin of victory by the 1500-meter mark.

Northeastern, the only crew to beat Harvard this season, finished third in the time of 5:39.61 and the Quakers, who also faded in the Eastern Sprints earlier this year, pulled in fourth in 5:39.81. Wisconsin (5:42.47) and UCLA (5:43.35) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Harvard Coach Harry Parker's winning lineup, which has gone unchanged throughout the season, included bow Curt Pieckenhagen, Captain Joe Harvey, Hugh Evans, Jon Bernstein, Peter Sharis, Jack Rusher, Phil Schuller, John Amory and coxswain Travis Metz.

Bernstein, who was elected Captain of the heavies for next year, will be returning to row for Parker along with fellow junior Sharis. Sophomores Evans and Metz will also be returning to anchor the Crimson.

Harvard also won the national championship in the heavyweight four category by topping Wisconsin with a boat including George Henry, Donald Fawcett, Elliott Smith, Chris Swan and coxswain Christine Cozadd.

In the four-mile race against Yale, the oldest intercollegiate rivalry, the Crimson surged to a commanding lead in the first 200 meters on the Thames River in New London, Conn. Harvard consistently pulled away from the outmanned Elis, crossing the finish line 10 lengths ahead of its opponents in a time of 19:15.3, the third-fastest time in the history of the race. The win marked Parker's 23rd win over Yale in his 27 years as coach of the Crimson crew program.

The Harvard JV and freshman boats completed the sweep of the regatta with wins in their respective races against the Elis. The JV squad raced its three-mile race in 15:05.2, outlasting Yale by 5.5 seconds. The Crimson freshman crew barely held on to top its Eli opponent by 1.8 seconds over a two-mile course.

De-Marpled

The Harvard lightweight crew lost out on its bid to win its first-ever national title June 11, finishing behind Princeton and Yale at the Empire State Regatta on the Hudson River in Albany, N.Y. The Crimson had swept the Tigers and Elis in the Goldwaithe Cup and the Eastern Sprints earlier this year but, hampered by the loss of seven-man Ted Marple to tendonitis, the Crimson finished 2.2 seconds behind Princeton.

Photo Finish

Princeton held a one-length lead over Yale with 400 meters to go, but the Elis surged and the two boats crossed the finish line together, with the Tigers being ruled the winner after the judges reviewed the videotapes of the race. Cornell, George town, Santa Barbara and Cal-Berkeley rounded out the field.

Harvard's Frank Knapp, Farzad Mostashari, Chip Dixon, Peter Olrich and David Ephron won the unofficial national title in the lightweight four division with a 1.8-second victory over second place Yale.

Novice Champs

The win by the Radcliffe novice eight was the first-ever official national title for a Black and White boat. Racing at Lake Wingra in Madison were bow Kara Berdik, Wendy Svatek, Rosie Hyson, Jolly Stamat, Anne Hardy, Laurisa Shappell, Kristi Stoddard, stroke Amy Constable and cox Maye Chen.

THE HENLEY NOTEBOOK: The Radcliffe varsity eights, considered by many to be the top boat in the country, did not compete in the national championships in order to prepare for its first trip to the Royal Henley Regatta in England.

The men's program will also be sending three boats to Henley: the varsity heavies will be competing for the Ladies Challenge Plate, the JV heavies will be split into fours and the lightweight eights will be rowing in the Thames Cup.