Radcliffe Dethrones Tigers As Eastern Champions

A victory over archrival Princeton, an Eastern Sprints championship, a new course record. Yep, the No. 1 Radcliffe lightweight crew put in about a full day’s work.

Powering past the No. 2 Tigers and staving off charging No. 4 Wisconsin, the Black and White snatched a win in the Eastern Sprint Championships yesterday on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.

“It was some of the best racing I think our boat has ever done,” junior co-captain Ame Bothwell said.

The victory was the lights’ first Sprints title since 1997, and tenth overall.

Radcliffe emerged from the starting line even with Princeton and also with the Badgers and No. 3 Georgetown. Sticking with the Tigers over the opening 1,000 meters is something new for the Black and White, who is accustomed to coming from behind to offer a challenge.

“For the first race that I can remember, we were never down on Princeton—after matching them off the start we just kept going,” Bothwell said.  “It was a powerful race from the very beginning, and we settled into it really nicely.”

Radcliffe gradually inched farther and farther ahead of the Tigers, gaining distance seat-by-seat until it pushed ahead by a length.

“When [senior] Lauren Sheerr, our coxswain, told us she was on Princeton’s bow ball, I think we all knew we had the race,” Bothwell said.

The Black and White crossed the line in 6:38.60, setting a course record for the event.

Wisconsin made a furious sprint to the finish to time in at 6:41.47, eventually even passing the Tigers, who finished in 6:42.10.

“It was really exciting to have it all come together today,” senior Avaleigh Milne said.

The two teams have quite a rivalry going, a rivalry that was one-sided up until the recent past.

On April 24, Radcliffe topped Princeton on the Charles River—the first victory over the Tigers in the teams’ last ten meetings.

“Beating Princeton at our dual race two weeks ago gave us confidence going into this race, and also helped us pinpoint parts of our race that still needed to be improved,” Milne said.

While the crew was riding fast during the race, the emotions were riding high after the race.

“Rowing up to the awards dock and getting that cup was amazing,” Bothwell said. “We were ready to win this race, it’s been too long since Radcliffe won at sprints. I think because it’s been something that has been so close for so long, it was a pretty emotional win—there were definitely some tears.”

The varsity four turned in a fourth-place finish in its Grand Final race.

In the novice eight event, the Black and White notched another fourth-place showing. Radcliffe covered the two-kilometer course in 7:30.50, a little more than 26 seconds behind the Tigers (7:04.40).

The Badgers (7:14.99) and Hoyas (7:19.96) came in second and third, respectively.

With almost four full weeks until the IRA Championships on June 3-5, which are also in Camden, there is ample time for the crew to prepare to establish its own string of victories over Princeton.

“Now we need to build on this weekend in order to repeat this performance at nationals,” Milne said.

—Staff writer J. Patrick Coyne can be reached at coyne@fas.harvard.edu.