Radcliffe Heavies Leave B.U. Behind

The Radcliffe varsity heavyweight crew made a strong statement Saturday evening with a convincing four-second victory over favored crosstown rival B.U.

The Black and White sprinted to a three-seat lead early in the race, maintaining a steady pace of 35 strokes per minute. After the Terriers were unable to move through Radcliffe with a power 20 at 500 meters, Coach Liz O'Leary's squad responded with a strong move of its own at the 1000-meter mark, steadily pulling away to win by open water.

"It was definitely our best race of the season," senior stroke Kristen Velyvis said. "It was a strong, hard, emotional race and we won it."

Velyvis was one of three seniors in the stern of the boat rowing their last race on the Charles. Coxswain Jen Dodge and seven-seat Jillian Buriak also bid farewell to the familiar bridges and banks of the Radcliffe home waters.

"Jen did a great job psyching us up," Buriak said. "It really helped to hear things like 'Jillian, this is your last sprint on the Charles. Go for it!'"

Buriak also saw O'Leary's lineup shuffle work wonders in the seat in front of her. Amy Constable moved up from the third seat to the sixth, switching places with Suzie Mayam to provide the boat with better balance.

Dangerous weather conditions Saturday morning forced the race to be postponed until 6 p.m., when the Black and White JV took advantage of a slight tailwind to leave its Terrier counterpart 13 seconds behind.

Then it was the varsity's turn to put it all together.

The Black and White's superior performance could not have come at a better time. Next weekend, Radcliffe will face favored Princeton, Yale, Brown, Cornell and Wisconsin in the Eastern Sprints on Lake Wauramug in Connecticut. The Terriers will also be in attendance, seeking revenge.

"We have some serious momentum coming into this," Buriak said. "There's no question in my mind we'll be in the top two, but I really want to crush Princeton."