Radcliffe Heavies Top Yale; No. 2 Men's Lights Fall

With the life of its sponsoring school on the downward slope, the No. 8 Radcliffe heavyweight crew put that fact behind it Saturday to win one for the 'Cliffer.

"As far as I know, we keep our name and our black and white colors," captain Kate Tomford said. "I hope that doesn't change."

The Black-and-White handily won the three varsity races to win the Case Cup against Yale and No. 9 Wisconsin on the Housatonic River in Derby, Conn.

In the first varsity race, Radcliffe, aided by a strong tail wind and tail current, glided to victory with a blistering time of 6:27.8. Wisconsin placed second at 6:33.6 and Yale finished in third at 6:51.7.

The race started with a stagger because the course centered around a bend in the river at about the 1000-meter mark. Radcliffe had the inside lane.

"We started down and were still down throughout the first 500," Tomford said. "We moved through around the turn, and Yale fell behind quickly."

Radcliffe increased its lead throughout the second 1000 meters for the victory.

"The conditions weren't great, and I think we could work on dealing with the conditions better," Tomford said. "I think we were pleased with the results overall."

The second varsity race ended the same way, with Radcliffe in at 6:41.1, Wisconsin in at 6:47.3 and Yale in at 6:51.7.

The varsity fours, a race in which Wisconsin didn't participate, was again a Radcliffe victory, but this time, it was a tight race coming into the final sprint. Yale's time of 6:56.3 was second to Radcliffe's 7:29.8.

Yale defeated Radcliffe in both the first and second novice races.

In the first race, Yale's time of 6:48.4 was the team's fastest on the day and was good enough to top Radcliffe's 7:06.6.

The second race was a little slower, with Radcliffe crossing the line at 7:12.3, well behind Yale's 7:03.8.

"The Yale novices were undefeated this season," Tomford said, "So that was a particularly challenging race for the freshman."

The Radcliffe win marks the tie-breaker in the Radcliffe-Yale series, which is now 12-11 in Radcliffe's favor, dating back to 1976. Radcliffe has now won three in a row over the Elis.

Radcliffe hosts B.U. and MIT next Saturday on the Charles River.

"B.U. is always a challenge," Tomford said. "Everyone steps up for the race."

The Radcliffe lightweights stayed at home Saturday to face Princeton on the Charles.

Radcliffe could not beat the strong headwind or the Tigers, losing the first varsity boat with a time of 7:30.7 to 7:44.86. The lightweights host Brown and MIT next week on the Charles.

The No. 2 Harvard heavyweight crew team, coming off a tough loss to No. 1 Princeton, could not rebound for a victory Saturday.

Rowing for the Adams Cup against No. 3 Penn and No. 12 Navy on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, the Crimson couldn't quite get past the Quakers for a victory.

In the first varsity race, the one that counts for the Cup victory, Harvard lost by less than a second in a wire-to-wire finish.

Penn roared to a time 5:34.6, but Harvard was hot on their tails with a time of 5:35.58. Navy was third at 5:51.54.

Penn was stroked by Garrett Miller, a member of the U.S. National Team.

In the second and third varsity races, the Crimson couldn't stay out of the cellar. Harvard's second boat finished at 5:44.2, behind Penn's 5:38.9 and Navy's 5:41.39.

The third boat's time of 6:13.1 was well behind Navy's 5:55.8 and Penn's 6:01.44.

Harvard's only wins on the day came from the first and second freshman boats.

In the first freshman race, the Crimson raced to a 5:43.10 finish. Penn followed at 5:57.47 and Navy at 6:10.54.

In the second race between just Harvard and Navy, Harvard won 6:01.40 to 6:14.89. The heavyweights face Northeastern next week on the Charles.

In a battle of the heavyweight lightweights, the No. 2 Harvard men's lightweight crew lost to No. 1 Princeton but defeated No. 3 Yale on the Charles on Saturday.

The Crimson's first varsity boat could not pull ahead, losing to Princeton 6:20.0 to 6:24.55. Yale was close behind at 6:25.54.

"We just had a pretty poor race," Co-captain Tom Fallows said. "Four seconds is a huge margin. Start to finish, we were off our game."

Fallows said he attributes the loss to the fact that the Crimson did not row in the race like they have been rowing in practice.

"We're young," Fallows said. "We didn't row it smart. We rowed scared."

In the second varsity boat, Princeton rowed to a time of 6:29.9, followed by Harvard at 6:40.1 and Yale at 6:44.8.

The third varsity race, between Princeton and Harvard, the Tigers won 7:13.97 to 7:29.35.

In the first freshman race, Yale won its only contest of the day. The Bulldogs came in at 6:37.8, followed by Harvard at 6:41.9 and Princeton at 6:44.0.

Rowing the second freshman race in fours, the Crimson got its only win of the morning, rowing to an 8:00.9. Princeton was second at 8:07.6, and Yale rowed to an 8:44.2.

The lightweights have next weekend off in preparation for Eastern Sprints on May 9 in Worcester.

"The next two weeks, the mission is trying to ensure that we show up ready to race," Fallows said.