Radcliffe Lights Demolish Georgetown

After having faced—and lost to—No. 1 Princeton each of the past three weekends, the No. 2 Radcliffe women’s lightweight crew took advantage of the opportunity to compete against a weaker opponent, as the top Black and White boat defeated Georgetown Saturday on the Charles River.

The experience Radcliffe gained in falling to the defending national champions—once by inches and another time by feet—prepared the Black and White well for Saturday’s race.

The Hoyas came into the contest ranked No. 10 in the nation, but the gap in national standing was evident in the nearly 20-second margin that separated the Black and White at 6:50.0 from Georgetown at 7:09.7.

“It’s not the same type of competition as Princeton,” junior Avaleigh Milne said.

Radcliffe triumphed with the complete race that it failed to put together against Princeton in the last two contests. Two weekends ago at the Knecht Cup, the Black and White finished just four-tenths of second behind the Tigers despite a poor start.

Last weekend, Radcliffe fell further behind, crossing the line 1.5 seconds after Princeton. Despite a stronger start than at the Knecht, the Black and White was unable to put together the quality sprint that made the previous margin miniscule.

A strong start had Radcliffe ahead by a boat length almost as soon as the race began. Over the next 1,000 meters the team extended that margin to three boat lengths, and the sprint to the finish was a race between the Black and White and the clock, because the Hoyas were out of contention.

“We had a pretty aggressive start of the race,” Milne said. “And even though Georgetown was far behind at the sprint, we still like to try to finish our races strong.”

Efforts such as these—an aggressive start combined with a strong middle stretch and an energetic sprint—are what Radcliffe hopes will turn the tide when it meets the Tigers again.

The second Black and White eight boat did not fare as well as the first varsity. In a three-way race with Georgetown and Princeton’s second eight, Radcliffe narrowly edged the Hoyas but was nearly 11 seconds off the Tigers’ winning pace. The Black and White was disappointed about falling to Princeton, but somewhat pleased in the way it rallied from a very poor start.

Radcliffe started so far behind the Tigers that after the first 500 meters, multiple boat lengths separated the two competitors. The Black and White also trailed Georgetown for the first 1,500 meters of the 2,000-meter course. But Radcliffe played catchup and passed the Hoyas in the final sprint, finishing at 7:12.0, almost two seconds ahead of Georgetown.

“We had a move on the 1,000 and we kept moving up on them and we were able to catch them,” junior Elizabeth Tisei said.

Just as Radcliffe’s first eight boat stressed how competition against Princeton, even if those contests end in losses, helps prepare the team, so too has it helped ready the team’s second eight. Those rowers competed against heavyweight teams in the Knecht Cup, and last week raced against two fours from Princeton and one from MIT. The team has seen improvement over the time span.

This weekend provides a respite from Tiger competition before Eastern Sprints as Radcliffe hosts No. 14 MIT on Saturday on the Charles River.

—Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.