A pair of varsity fours will hit the water with the benefit of having raced with the same nucleus in recent races.

“We’ve gained a lot of speed over the course of the last few weeks, and we’re totally ready to go,” junior Ella Steim said.

Every boat can generate points for the Black and White, so the races from the pair of novice shells are also key.

The 1N will duke it out with rivals Princeton, Brown and Cornell in the crew’s final competition of the year.

“They all beat us, and so that’s really not cool,” freshman Carrie Williams said. “I think we are prepared to be pissed off and row with a vengeance…Hopefully, the other teams will cry.”

The second novice has also spent the week prepping for its biggest day of the year.

“We’ve been working mainly on matching power application, fine-tuning our starts, and getting mentally prepared for our races,” freshman Olivia Gage said.

LIGHTWEIGHTS

The lightweight side comes in as the nation’s No. 1 crew. Last year’s Eastern Sprint runner up, the first varsity eight enters the races with the most momentum this particular team has ever had.

Two weeks ago, the boat beat then-No. 1 Princeton, a team that had topped Radcliffe in the teams’ ten previous meetings. Last week, the Black and White dismantled No. 11 MIT by 28 seconds.

The Tigers have taken the last two Eastern Sprints, and will definitely be Radcliffe’s top challenger.

“We have our work cut out for us,” co-captain Ame Bothwell said.

The Black and White have also beaten No. 3 Georgetown and No. 5 Stanford this season, and raced against the second varsity heavyweights from Radcliffe and BU last weekend in preparation.

“Our goal is simply to win,” Bothwell said. “I feel like we are definitely on our way to doing that.”

One varsity four will be competing for the Black and White, the only lightweight boat that has more than one heat.