Radcliffe Fours, Eights Demolish Foes; Weekend Regattas End Perfect Season

It was a gratifying end to a successful season for the Radcliffe crews this weekend. In eights competition, Radcliffe dumped Yale Saturday for the third time this year, the second time on the Charles.

Sunday, the 'Cliffe four traveled to Lowell to beat out a number of New England schools for the National Women's Rowing Association Championship. The victories capped off undefeated seasons for both crews.

The biggest obstacles the four faced were the bad conditions and a two-hour wait on the water as the 'Cliffe four easily disposed of all opposition.

The crew got off to its best start of the year, jumping past chief rival Boston University on the first five strokes. By the first ten, Radcliffe had opened a full length lead on the Terriers and cruised home to victory without a struggle. Radcliffe's final time was 3:31, about three lengths ahead of B.U.

Despite garnering the NWRA title, the crew was not ecstatic about the win.

"We weren't really psyched for the race when College Boat Club (last year's runner-up at the Nationals) didn't show up," said cox Amy Sacks. "We were rowing against teams that we had beaten four times already this year. But it was nice to win it."

Number two Robin Lothrop said, "We were a little uptight before the race because B.U. had a better time than us in our heats by 15 seconds. We rowed a solid race and the set-up was great."

Not Well-Rested

The eights, obviously tired both physically and mentally from their Sprints victory last weekend, had a closer than expected race with the Bulldogs. A poor start, a hungry Yale crew, and a slight headwind combined to keep Radcliffe even with their competition for the first 500 meters.

As they came through the Western Avenue Bridge, 30 strokes from the finish line, Yale was up by a seat. 'Cliffe coxswain Nancy Hadley called for a sprint, and her crew responded with a magnificent surge of power. Moving on Yale with every stroke, Radcliffe pulled ahead by half a length by the end of the race.

The 'Cliffe crossed the line at 3:30.2 with Yale trailing at 3:33.4.