Both Harvard and Radcliffe crews found success last weekend at the Stonehurst Capital Invitational Ragatta held in Rochester, N.Y.

The invitational consisted of two parts—a morning head race of three miles and a sprint in the afternoon. The sprint times were weighted and the times compiled to determine the champions.

Radcliffe and Harvard will face several of the same boats they met in Rochester at the Head of the Charles event this weekend.

Radcliffe Heavyweights

The Black and White took first place this weekend in the Women’s Open Eight Division, capturing the Elaine P. Wilson Cup for the third straight year.

For Radcliffe, the Stonehurst Capital Invitational provided the crew with an early glimpse of the teams it would be competing against for the rest of the year.

“I was really excited. The whole team was,” captain Michelle Guerette said. “We have a lot of young rowers just coming on to the scene and it was our first chance to test ourselves.”

More specifically, the Black and White would have its chance to battle Syracuse, a crew that beat Radcliffe in a dual meet last spring.

“We were aware that Syracuse was pretty stong and that they might try to make up a lot of distance in the beginning of the race,” Guerette said. “Right off the start, we got into our own solid rhythm. They took some moves on us but we kept pushing them back.”

In spite of some trouble the boat had in a rough section of water, Radcliffe finished with a leading time of 17:39.25, with Syracuse coming in at 17:45.24.

In the afternoon, the Black and White again faced the Orangewomen in a sprint race set on a turn. Because of the turn, the boats were staggered, with Radcliffe starting down on Syracuse.

“I think we used that to our advantage early on,” Guerette said. “We pushed hard to get even with [Syracuse].”

Radcliffe started behind, but it pulled out in front, with a winning time of 5:04.02. Syracuse pulled in just behind the Black and White at 5:05.73.

“As we were coming around, the coxswain started calling seats,” Guerette said. “We were down three seats, down two, then we were up half a boat length. Syracuse had a strong push towards the end, but we were able to bring the rate up at the end of the race. It wasn’t necessarily the prettiest race, but we just stayed on it and pulled through.”