Predictions held true as No. 1 Wisconsin won the crown with a time of 6:51.4, just beating out No. 2 Princeton’s time of 6:51.95.

The Black and White time of 7:04.60 earned third, the same place Radcliffe achieved in the 2000 Sprints.

“We were really pleased,” said freshman Jennifer Shaw. “It’s hard to compare one year with another, but we’ve made real progress since last year.”

The Radcliffe boat beat out the last three teams by over 10 seconds in the Grand Final, leaving it to race against Wisconsin and Princeton.

“Princeton and Wisconsin were right next to each other so right from the beginning, they were racing each other,” Shaw said. “By 500 meters, we were a boat-length down from them and [ahead] of the other boats, so we were sort-of in our own race.”

The lightweights will return to the Cooper River on June 1-2 to compete in the IRA Championships. Radcliffe has captured five national championships in the past, but must overcome Wisconsin and Princeton to garner another.

“It was a good race, but we have a lot of speed to gain,” Shaw said. “If we have good practices and get through finals okay, we can pull it together. We know we can beat all the other crews out there so we have to go after Princeton and [Wisconsin].”