Cliffe Crews Open Season Against B.U.

If you're looking for a proud tradition in rowing, Weld Boathouse--home of the Radcliffe crews--isn't a bad place to turn. Today marks the beginning of another chapter in the story, as both the lights and the heavyweights go to the line against Boston University on the Charles, beginning at 8:30 and running until noon.

For the heavyweights, the Terrier race is an important tune-up for meetings with powerhouses Princeton and Yale later this month, in a season that points toward the Eastern spring championship at Pittsfield, Mass., May 14 (for the lightweight story, see below).

Radcliffe had won the Easterns three consecutive years, from 1973 to 1975, before Wisconsin swiped the title in '76 and Yale edged the Weld residents by 1.4 seconds last year.

This year's crew hopes to reverse that decision. The lineup, despite the fact that only three rowers return from last year's second-place Easterns boat, looks reasonably strong.

The returnees are junior stroke Cynthia Strong, fiercely competitive captain Ruth Colker (two-seat), and junior Becky Goff in the three-seat. Anne Benton, a lean and smooth freshman who sculled in Europe over the summer, will sit behind Strong at seven. A couple of veterans who took a year off from rowing, Karen Oberhauser and Nelia Worsley, will take charge of the five-seat and the bow, respectively. Former J.V. rower Cathy Dement will supply a lot of power from the six-seat, while scrappy sophomore Kelly Ronan--a stroke on last year's novice eight--will sit four.

First-year coach Carie Graves, a former Olympic oarswoman and a member of the Wisco boat that won the '76 Easterns, has jumped boathouses and is excited about this year's campaign.

"I don't give beans about Harvard or Wisconsin--I care about the people I row with or coach," Graves said yesterday.

Graves would like to learn something about the boat in her inaugural race, in hopes of preparing for next week's Princeton race and the rest of the schedule.

The crew should not have too much trouble against Dartmouth and Mt. Holyoke the week after Princeton, but then comes one of the toughest races of the year--Yale. The Elis already own a 14-second decision over Connecticut College this spring.

But don't expect Radcliffe to capsize against this year's tough competition.

"The boat feels good," Strong said yesterday. "We're sort of an underdog, and it's exciting and aggressive." You bet it is.

The ice is gone, seat racing's over, and now it's time for the good stuff as the Radcliffe lightweights finally open their season this morning against their perennial nemesis and toughest regular-season opponent, Boston University.

Although the contest features the two premier lightweight crews of the East, the Radcliffe squad is not physically peaking for the confrontation with its archrival.

"We're working relatively hard today--a couple of 1000s--we're not tapering for the race," coach Peter Huntsman said yesterday.

Psyched

That's not to say the team isn't mentally up for the clash. The lineups have rowed together only since Wednesday, and the pieces sparkle with the enthusiasm that comes from working with new-found friends.

"We're all very excited about the boat--a new Schoenbrod especially for women--and about being together, and that has to be an advantage," Huntsman said.

The first boat boasts four returnees from last year's Eastern Sprints champion eight. Powerhouse junior Nancy Kerrebrock moves up to the stroke seat, senior co-captains Mizzy Stokes and Jane Roy sit six and bow, respectively, and three-year veteran Karen Messer occupies the three-seat. Susie Peterson continues her duties in the coxswain's chair.

Kristen Laine, returning from a leave of absence, will follow Kerrebrock, while Ann Pawlowsky, who took her freshman year off from crew after stroking the Andover eight as a senior, makes a comeback to rowing in the four-seat. Sophomores Cindy Cohen at five and Kathy Kirk at two, both up from last year's J.V., round out the lineup.

"It's a very strong boat," Huntsman said, adding, "The big question is how well they will fit together--the styles of the people in the boat are a lot less blendable than last year."

Radcliffed nosed out B.U. in the regular season and in the Sprints last year by less than a second each time, but sickness and graduation fever caught up with the two evenly-matched crews at the Nationals in June when the Terriers came back to take second place to Radcliffe's fourth.

Next weekend, Radcliffe will go against an MIT crew of unproven quality.

The oarswomen will then travel to Hanover April 22 to take on the Big Green of Dartmouth, a late-blooming crew which is not even on the water yet.

After a weekend off, the lights square off against Williams, another question-mark crew which performed inconsistently last year.

Huntsman and his crew are looking to the Eastern Sprints in Pittsfield May 14 as the key to a season that might culminate in another shot at the Nationals. The Terriers of B.U. loom once again as the team to beat.

"But I wanted to race them early in the season--just to know where we stand," Huntsman grinned.