The lone Radcliffe loss of the day came in the novice eight race, where the Black and White (7:08.3) once held a one-length lead before succumbing to a vicious final 500 from BU (7:06.6) and falling by about two seats.
The novice four (8:11.8) came from three seats down to pass the Terriers (8:17.4) with open water playing the role of interloper at the finish line.
All focus now shifts to the Eastern Sprints, which will take place May 15 in Camden, N.J.
The next couple weeks will be an intense time for the crew to prepare for the second-biggest regatta of the year.
“As a boat we have been working on strong finishes and creating a rhythm that creates good ratio, and I think that will continue to be a focus for at least part of the coming two weeks leading into sprints,” Schofield said.
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Powerful from start to finish, top-ranked Princeton (6:53.2) bested the first varsity octet (7:00.7) by just under seven seconds.
“I was pleased with how the eight raced,” junior stroke Sarah Bates said. “I think we had an aggressive race, but it just wasn’t enough to match Princeton’s speed.”
Radcliffe was unable to retain control of the Class of 1999 Cup, which it had snatched from the Tigers last year when it broke Princeton’s 10-race winning streak against the Black and White.
“They are a really fast team and they row very well technically,” Bates said. “As for our rivalry, as [head coach] Cec [Tucker] said after our race when she was presenting Princeton with the cup, we have a strong rivalry on the water but off the water we try to come together and work towards building a faster and bigger league for lightweight women’s rowing. It’s really great to have teams like Princeton who are a little bit faster than us and give us something to work towards.”
The Radcliffe varsity four, which featured four rowers (Bates, senior Kristin Hicks, senior Ame Bothwell, and sophomore Lesley Burkett) and the coxswain (sophomore Kate Walro) of the eight fared better, finishing in 7:33.2 en route to a rout of both the Princeton “A” boat (7:46.4) and “B” boat (7:59.3).
The Tigers (7:04.6) took the novice eight event ahead of the Black and White “A” (7:30.6) and “B” (7:57.8).
The lights also have the Sprints on their horizon, though they will square off against MIT on the Charles next Saturday.
“In terms of improving our speed, over the next couple weeks before Sprints, we’ll be working to row cleaner and more effectively as a boat and continuing to work on our strength in the weight room,” Bates said.
—Staff writer J. Patrick Coyne can be reached at coyne@fas.harvard.edu.