Radcliffe Crew Qualifies For Nationals

Six seconds.

That's all that stands between the Radcliffe women's heavyweight crew team and a National Championship.

Last weekend at the Eastern Sprints, No. 3 Radcliffe (9-2) finished a mere six seconds behind No. 1 Brown.

The Black-and-White learned today, however, it will get another shot at the Bears two weeks from now at the National Championships, to be held on the Cooper River in Camden, NJ from May 26-28.

Since the Black-and-White qualified as a team once again this year, the varsity eight, second varsity eight, and varsity four boats will each compete in Camden.

This is the third straight year that the entire Radcliffe team has qualified for the NCAA National Championship.

In 1997, the first year that women's crew was a NCAA-sponsored event and the only year that Radcliffe did not qualify as a team, the varsity heavies received an at-large bid.

Despite falling to Brown last weekend, Radcliffe put itself in a good position heading into the Nationals by upsetting No. 2 Princeton, edging the Tigers by three seconds with a second-place performance.

The race was a tight contest, however, as No. 5 Virginia and No. 6 BU each finished within five seconds of the Black-and-White.

No. 4 Yale placed a distant sixth, sixteen seconds behind the Bears.

Radcliffe's two lone regular season defeats came at the hands of Brown and Princeton.

The Bears defeated Radcliffe April 9 by five seconds in Providence, while the Tigers downed the Black-and-White April 15 in Princeton.

Last week, Radcliffe avenged its loss to the Tigers when the stakes were raised at the Eastern Sprints.

The only question left unanswered is whether or not the Black-and-White can find six seconds somewhere in their hearts when it matters most, two weeks from now at the National Championships.