Heavyweight Crews Enjoy Record Weekend

The Harvard and Radcliffe heavyweight crew teams both enjoyed a super Saturday this weekend, with both heavyweight varsities winning their respective cup races and setting Charles River course records.

"We are really fired up right now," sophomore Michelle Guerette said. "We have been building confidence and boat speed all year, and now we feel like we can take on any team in any race in any conditions."

Heavyweight men

The men's heavyweight crew won the Charlie Smith Cup by defeating Northeastern by just over a length, winning 5:37.3 to 5:40.9. With the victory over Northeastern, the men finished their third straight undefeated season on the Charles and beat Brown's seven-year-old river record of 5:38.05.

With unusually favorable conditions helping the Harvard men (3-1) to enjoy a record-breaking day, they surged to a quick three-seat lead from the start and extended it to a full length at the 1,000-meter mark.

"There was a strong direct tail wind, which pushes the boat to go faster," said junior Luka Djunic. "The rowing conditions weren't all that good, but we rowed well enough to take advantage of the tail wind."

The Crimson, ranked fourth in the nation and second in the East, maintained its one-length lead over the Huskies, ranked 11th in the country, for the rest of the race.

In addition to breaking Brown's river record, the Harvard men also tasted the fruits of sweet revenge. After falling to Northeastern in May 1997, Harvard has since won seven straight races on the Charles.

The Charlie Smith Cup served as the Crimson's final tune-up before the Eastern Sprints, which will take place May 21 on Worcester's Lake Quinsigamond.

"We expected that we were going to beat Northeastern [Saturday], but we just hope that what we've been working for last month and this month will help us to win the Eastern Sprints," Djunic said.

Harvard's junior varsity and freshman teams met with similar success Saturday. The Crimson's JV team beat the Huskies by finishing at 5:47.8, and the Harvard freshmen edged out Northeastern with a time of 5:51.3.

Heavyweight women

The Radcliffe women (9-2) also took advantage of the favorable conditions Saturday morning and won the Allen-DeWolfe Cup for the sixth straight year, closing out its most successful dual season in a decade.

"It was a really strong race for us," Guerette said. "It showed that we have matured as a team and that we've gained confidence in each other over the year."

Radcliffe's time of 6:17.5 destroyed the previous course record of 6:27.2, which had been set by Princeton in 1993. By setting the course record, the Black-and-White managed to soundly defeat a challenging Boston University (10-4) contingent.

"The fact that we won by such a huge margin shows that we were really going for boat speed instead of concentrating on just beating the other teams," Guerette said. "We put it all out on the line on Saturday, and it just showed to us that rankings don't matter and that previous races don't matter. We just need to race our best every time."

At the start of the race, the Radcliffe women jumped out to a quick four-seat lead, and the Black-and-White surged away from the Terriers at the 800-meter mark. Radcliffe had extended its lead over the Terriers to almost three lengths by the end of the race.

In the second varsity race, the Radcliffe women again dominated the competition, winning with a time of 6:37.6 and edging out B.U., which finished in 6:47.5.

In the novice contest, the Terriers defeated the Black-and-White by finishing in 6:37.0.

Radcliffe's next challenge will come at the Eastern Sprints Championships next Saturday, which will occur on Lake Waramaug in New Preston, Conn.

"We're really excited about the Sprints next weekend because we've been doing so well," Guerette said.

If the Radcliffe women perform well at the Eastern Sprints, they should be in line for an NCAA bid and ready to compete for the NCAA Championships, which will be held on Camden's Cooper River May 26-28.

The Radcliffe lightweights raced Brown and MIT on the Charles on Saturday as well, but to less success.

Brown edged the Black-and-White out 6:46.8 to 6:51.6.

MIT finished in third at 7:05.6.

Lightweights Men

Racing on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, N.J., the Harvard lightweight men nearly swept its races against Georgetown and Rutgers.

In the first varsity race, the Crimson drove hard out of the gates in route to a three-quarters boat win over Rutgers. Harvard finished in 5:53.5 and Rutgers timed at 5:56.3. Georgetown came in at 6:07.9

The Crimson took the second varsity race at 6:04.8, beating out the Scarlet Knights at 6:10.0 and the Hoyas at 6:31.8.

In the varsity four, Harvard again took the honors with a time of 7:07.2. Rutgers placed second at 7:20.1, beating out another Harvard boat at 7:26.6.

The first freshman boat claimed first with a 6:13.4, edging out Rutgers at 6:18.5 and Georgetown at 6:32.6.

The second freshman boat was the only Harvard boat to fall. Rutgers rowed to a 6:26.4, ahead of Harvard at 6:29.6 and Georgetown at 6:51.4.