Suddenly, that one loss on the Radcliffe heavyweight crew’s schedule doesn’t seem so important.

The Black and White dethroned five-time defending Eastern Association of Women’s Racing Colleges (EAWRC) Sprints champion Brown, exacting revenge upon the Bears for their 2.7 second dual meet victory earlier in the season.

“It was unbelievable,” junior Sarah Clark said. “Brown always comes into these events expecting to win. To watch that dynasty crumble and be a part of that was incredible.”

Radcliffe’s defeat at Brown’s hands on April 27 came one day after the Black and White squared off against Yale and Virginia, while the Bears had not raced since the previous weekend. This time, Brown had two weeks’ worth of rest to Radcliffe’s one.

“It’s hard to race two schools back to back, Yale and Brown that are top crews in the league and the country,” co-captain Courtney Brown said.

The victory for Radcliffe is the first since 1989—its fifth overall—and secures both a national championship berth and an invitation to the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta this July, offering the opportunity to compete against an elite international field on the River Thames.

“We haven’t considered going to Henley,” coach Liz O’Leary said. “Our focus at this point will be on the national championship. Henley is not in the picture at this point.”

But the victory for the varsity eights was not the only triumph for the Black and White on the day.

For the first time in the crew’s history, the heavies captured the Willing Point Trophy—awarded for cumulative success in varsity and second varsity eights, novice and second novice eights and varsity fours ‘A’.

It all made a nice birthday present for O’Leary.

“It’s tremendous to beat [Brown],” O’Leary said. “The way our league is—and not just the way the Ivy League is but also the way the Eastern Sprints are—its very competitive and a very deep league.”

Since the beginning of the season, winning the team trophy has been the crew’s primary objective, with a posting on the Weld Boathouse bulletin board reminding them with each practice of that goal as the opportunity to win drew ever closer.

“I think what’s most exciting is that this has been our biggest goal since we walked in the boathouse doors in September,” junior Sarah Clark said.

Radcliffe eked out the team victory over Brown, propelling itself just a single point ahead of the Bears with its commanding victory in the varsity eights, overcoming Brown’s victories in the second varsity and first novice events.

“We didn’t realize before that we were so close,” Brown said. “But we knew that if we won that race we were in contention.”