It was a weekend of Ivy League competition and local opponents for the No. 14 Radcliffe women’s heavyweight crew, as the team competed on both Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday morning, the Black and White faced tough opposition and lost to Ancient Eight rivals Princeton and Cornell in the Class of 1975 Cup. Then, on Sunday, Radcliffe rowed to victory against Northeastern and Boston University in the Beanpot Regatta.
RADCLIFFE VS. BOSTON UNIVERSITY/NORTHEASTERN
On the heels of Saturday’s races, the Black and White got set to take on local Boston opponents in the Beanpot Regatta on Sunday.
“Today’s race was important because it’s out of conference,” said sophomore four seat Lauren Tracey. “These out-of-conference races help rank us in the NCAA and help us get to the tournament.”
The regatta against the Huskies and Terriers was held in the familiar waters of the Charles River, and the Radcliffe women looked right at home as they swept the competition away, winning all five of the day’s events.
In the varsity eight race, the Black and White finished with a 6:50.6 mark that put them well ahead of Northeastern (7:01.6) and BU (7:09.3).
“We had a big move around the 1000 meter mark,” junior stroke Eliza Flint said. “Once you’re out ahead by that much, you can just keep going. Mentally, you’ve sort of overcome all the other boats.”
The Radcliffe crew picked up some hardware with the win, as the successes of the crews secured the Beanpot Trophy, the Rowlands Trophy (Radcliffe vs. Northeastern), and the Allen-DeWolfe Trophy (Radcliffe vs. BU).
“It’s always nice to win; can’t deny that,” Tracey said. “It was definitely a good race too. Across the board, I think everyone’s happy with their races.”
The other two varsity eight races ended with similar outcomes. In the second race, the Black and White left the Huskies (7:07.6) and the Terriers (7:23.7) more than 10 seconds behind, crossing in 6:56.0.
Radcliffe had two boats in the third varsity eight event. The first squad came in with a time of 7:13.9 to beat out Northeastern (7:17.2), and the B squad followed behind at 7:32.0, leaving BU to finish fourth at 7:52.5.
Solid performances by the varsity four boats rounded out the clean sweep for the Black and White. In the first race, the Radcliffe crew took 7:38.0 to finish, putting it nine seconds ahead of the second-place Huskies.
The second varsity four run saw the Black and White race past the Terriers, as its time of 7:42.8 was more than 25 seconds faster than the 8:08.6 put up by BU.
“It was just get out there, get ahead, and do the best we possibly can,” Flint said. “And I think we did that. It’s definitely a step in the right direction. Great progress.”
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