Before an unusually large early morning crowd of Radcliffe Crew alumnae, the women's heavyweights rekindled the tradition of victory, soundly beating local rival Boston University on the Charles River on Saturday.

The Radcliffe heavyweight crew (3-8) celebrated its first dual regatta victory of the season.

Despite a jumped start by the Terriers, the Black and White nevertheless surged ahead from the beginning and maintained the lead throughout the race.

"We took a few seats at first, and then more at the sprints, and then we won pretty decisively," sophomore Patty Roylance said.

Radcliffe breezed across the finish line almost five seconds ahead at 7:02.7, followed by the Terriers with a time of 7:07.3.

"The win felt pretty good," senior Jen Sessions said. "For the first time we executed our race plan that we've been practicing. It gives us confidence and momentum for next weekend."

Having endured a difficult season, the Radcliffe Heavies were fired up by the exciting win this weekend before the Eastern Sprints Championships, which are easily the biggest race of the season for East Coast crews before the Collegiate Nationals.

Preparing for races against top-ranked opponents such as Princeton, Brown and Wisconsin, Radcliffe is ready to fight like sharks for a top three finish which would ensure the Black and White of a ticket to Cincinatti for the Nationals.

"Our win this weekend before Sprints put us in a good mind set," Averbuck said of the race against B.U. "It's good to be the underdog. It makes us fight harder."

"Our goal was to be focused and confident by the time of Sprints, and this victory helped us accomplish that," Roylance said.

Riding the same current, the second varsity crew finished strongly with a time of 7:07.5 in front of B.U.'s time of 7:08.7.

The first novice Black and Whites, with a time of 7:11.6, muzzled the Terriers by more than 15 seconds, which finished with a time of 7:27.2.