NO. 16 RADCLIFFE HEAVYWEIGHTS VS. NO. 8 YALE
After eight long years on the losing end of the racecourse, the Black and White (7-4) heavyweights defeated No. 8 and defending NCAA varsity champion Yale (6-3), to take the Case Cup and bragging rights between the two rival schools.
Radcliffe’s victory over Yale also marked its second straight victory against a top-10 opponent.
“Winning the Case Cup in the varsity eight and being competitive in all our boats this weekend was a really huge turning point for our team this season,” senior heavyweight rower Tara Larson said.
In the 1V race, the Bulldogs exploded off the line first and maintained a slight lead for the first 1000 meters of the race. But during the third 500 meters, the Black and White was able to move in on Yale and even things up.
Heading into the final 500 meters, both crews set off on powerful sprints towards the finish line, but Radcliffe’s furious pace was too much for the Bulldogs, and the Black and White surged ahead to grab a three-second victory over Yale.
Despite the success of the Radcliffe 1V, other Black and White crews struggled against the Bulldogs.
The Yale second varsity eight edged out Radcliffe by six tenths of a second, while the Black and White 3V, 4V and Varsity Four were all bested by stronger Bulldog crews.
Nevertheless, these losses were unable to diminish the victory of the Radcliffe 1V over Yale, as the Black and White celebrated their first Case Cup victory since 2003.
Radcliffe hopes to build off of this success in the remaining races of the season.
“The biggest influence that this weekend will have on the rest of our season is just the huge confidence booster this win against Yale has given us,” sophomore heavyweight rower Celia Kohl said. “Obviously we’ve had some ups and downs this season, but as a whole, we’ve always known that we had a fast boat but it’s taken some steps to get there.”
“Our team is really fired up because now we know for certain that the podium at the sprints championship is totally within our reach,” Larson said.
—Staff writer Oluwatoni A. Campbell can be reached at oluwatoni.campbell@college.harvard.edu.