The Radcliffe lightweight crew drastically improved upon last year’s disappointing season, finishing as the second-best lightweight crew in the country. But one thing the Black and White did last year and could not repeat this season kept Radcliffe from capturing the 2003 national championship—beating Princeton.

After blowing away the competition in their semifinal races, No. 2 Radcliffe and No. 1 Princeton rowed neck and neck in the final field of six at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship regatta before the Tigers took home the title, 6:56.12 to 6:59.24.

“Unfortunately, I think it felt the same as the previous races,” said junior Avaleigh Milne. “We felt we had the same solid race as we had before, and did all we could to make the outcome different, but ended up with the same result.”

It was the fifth time this season the Tigers edged the Black and White, who went 3-2 in dual competition, losing only to Princeton all year long.

Radcliffe opened the season at the Windermere Classic, cruising to victories over Cal-Davis and Stanford, followed by a heartbreaking five-seat loss to then-No. 2 Princeton 6:45.1-6:47.2.

Three more times during the year, Princeton edged Radcliffe by under three seconds. At the Knecht Cup, Radcliffe finished second as the Tigers narrowly escaped the Black and White’s chase by four-tenths of a second, 6:58.3 to 6:58.7.

“We are encouraged that the margin between us and Princeton is rapidly shrinking,” sophomore Kristin Hicks said following the race. “We’re hoping we can go down and beat them on their own course.”

The margin stayed nearly constant, however, always keeping Radcliffe within reach but always too much for the crew to overcome. The Black and White had its chance this past weekend to do so on Princeton’s home water, but came up short.

A week after the Knecht Cup, Radcliffe again faced off with the Tigers, this time on Lake Carnegie, and again lost by a slim margin, 7:12.8 to 7:14.26.

At Eastern Sprints, the Radcliffe lightweights posted their best finish in four years, but were still no match for Princeton, losing another close race 7:06.4 to 7:09.12.

The finish was the same at IRAs, but even the close results on paper do not tell the full story or give full justice to the lightweights’ run at the national title. The small margins of victory kept the crew optimistic about beating Princeton and made for an amazing season filled with much-anticipated races and tight finishes.

—Staff writer John R. Hein can be reached at hein@fas.harvard.edu.

WOMEN’S LIGHTWEIGHT CREW

Results 2nd at EAWRCs, 2nd at IRAs

Coach Cecile Tucker

Captains Erin Barnhart, Jessica Hertz

Highlights The women’s lightweights remained No. 2 in the nation since their first loss to Princeton in April. The crew had their best finish at Sprints since 1999, placing second, and finished the season second in the country. The boat never lost to anyone other than Princeton this season.