The title of defending national champion doesn’t guarantee anything beyond paper rankings, as the No. 5 Radcliffe lightweight crew demonstrated on Saturday with its second-place finish over No. 2 Princeton in the Kencht Cup on the Cooper River, Camden, N.J. No. 1 Wisconsin dominated in both the Kencht Cup and the Villanova Invitational on yesterday.
The Black and White found success on the Cooper all weekend, as Radcliffe finished third, behind the No. 1 Badgers and then the No. 2 Tigers in the Villanova Invitational.
The Black and White were even with Princeton 400 meters in the race, but Princeton took a lead that would last, despite moves from Radcliffe in the final 1000 and in the sprint.
The Tigers finished about a length ahead of the Black and White, while Wisconsin took first.
“We didn’t seem to respond in the part of the race that we needed to,” said sophomore stroke Laura Spence.
Radcliffe found more success in Saturday’s Kencht Cup, where the Black and White found itself holding its own against the nation’s lightweight powerhouses.
In the first heat, Radcliffe found itself racing with the Badgers, and finished second to qualify for the final.
“We were really excited because we actually hung with Wisco for a while,” Spence said. “The final was even more exciting.”
In the final, the Black and White boat fell behind Princeton initially as the Tigers walked through Radcliffe in the second 500 of the race. As the Black and White began to make up distance, what could have been a race-ending disaster struck.
“At 1750, I caught a crab,” Spence said. “But act it turned out really well because we were really motivated. We started the sprint early and managed to walk through Princeton during the sprint.”
Radcliffe’s four finished fourth behind Princeton, Wisconsin and then behind the Badgers’ novice four by four-tenths of a second.
Though the Black and White is currently ranked only fifth in USRowing/CRCA polls, Radcliffe showed that it belongs in the trio of perennial lightweight powerhouses with Wisconsin and the Tigers.
“We were third in national championship last year, but we hadn’t really been seen this year,” Spence said.
Next Saturday, the Black and White race UMass on the Charles, starting at 10:24 a.m.
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