With its goal of qualifying for NCAAs in mind, Radcliffe grabbed a huge win on April 25 at Yale. The crew went on to defeat Boston University and then to place fourth at Eastern Sprints, held on Lake Waramaug in New Preston, Conn.

At Sprints, the Black and White beat the Princeton Tigers for the first time in years. The team members were extremely happy with their finish.

"Although we had a few disappointing losses mid-season, we are really proud of our race at Sprints and our progression in the last few weeks," said junior coxswain Diane Marks. "We surprised a lot of people at Sprints."

Looking towards next year's season, the Radcliffe heavyweight crew has tremendous room for growth. The team is a relatively young one, drawing from the strength of the 1997 national-champion novice eight.

"The team hopes to build off of this year," Marks said. "We have a lot of great freshmen stepping up. We definitely plan to be on the medal stand at Sprints."

Lightweight Women

The Radcliffe lightweight women are truly outstanding among lightweight collegiate programs. Radcliffe, which has lost only one dual race in the last 12 seasons, entered 1998 having captured the national title in each of the past two years.

The varsity boat remained a strong one, having lost only two seniors last year. And second-year Coach Aubrey Borland is not returning after this season, making this spring even more important.

Radcliffe's first lightweight race was on April 4 at the San Diego Crew Classic, where the varsity crew successfully defended its title from last year. Upon their return to the East Coast, the lightweights proved that their speed and dedication were enough for yet another outstanding season, as they defeated Princeton, Villanova, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Virginia.

But it was not all roses for Radcliffe. Although Radcliffe had beaten Princeton earlier in the season, the Tigers were able to secure the Eastern Sprints title.

The Team members viewed Princeton as their main competition in their pursuit of the national title. While Radcliffe did tame the Tigers, who finished third, it was unable best the Villanova Wildcats.

Although the rowers were disappointed by the loss, they had expected tough competition.

"The only expectation the lightweight women had going into this season was that we were going to have to work extremely hard to be competitive against each of the teams we raced," said captain and stroke Amy Mecklenburg.