W. Crew Secures Solid Victories in Final Dual Meet

The Black and White left its competition black and blue on Saturday morning, as both the Radcliffe heavyweight and lightweight crews beat up on neighborhood rivals Boston University and MIT on the Charles River.

In the last dual meet for the Black and White before next Sunday’s Eastern Sprints championship, solid victories went a long way.

For the No. 1 Black and White lightweight varsity eight, a dominant performance against the No. 9 Beavers solidified Radcliffe’s position at the top of the nation’s polls. With a stiff headwind, the Black and White powered to an early lead—one which only grew as the race progressed. Radcliffe finished in 7:52.51, thrashing MIT (8:20.51) by 28 seconds and posting its largest margin of victory of the season.

Before that race, the first lightweight Black and White boat squared off against the second varsity heavyweight shells from BU and Radcliffe.

The lightweight crew was able to stay near the two, and finished less than nine seconds behind the Black and White heavies and less than five seconds behind the Terriers. “It was nice to have a close race experience, because next week [at the Eastern Sprints] we’re guaranteed to have close races,” co-captain Ame Bothwell said.

Still, Radcliffe put up a better showing against the Beavers.

“We got up and kept moving,” Bothwell said. “Our blades were going in better, and it was just a better row.”

On the other hand, the No. 8 heavyweight squad needed a convincing victory to right its ship. After a pair of very tight losses to No. 4 Brown and No. 3 Princeton, the Black and White fell by nearly five seconds to then No. 9 Yale last week.

After a week of seat racing and reshuffling of lineups, though, Radcliffe hit the water focused and rededicated.

The first varsity eight got off to a very strong start into the brisk headwind against the Beavers and No. 17 Terriers. By the 500-meter mark, the Black and White held a lead of about one length, and the margin swelled to open water by the halfway point.

“It was a challenge to race in the headwind, something that we hadn’t done this year,” co-captain Lis Lambert said.

Not to be denied victory, Radcliffe closed out the last 1,000 meters without giving up any distance, and timed in at 7:06.72.

The last dual meet for the Black and White meant that this was the last home competition for the seniors.

“It was a sentimental race that had an emotional component that others didn’t,” Lambert said. BU was left in its wake, crossing the line in 7:17.09, and MIT (8:01.8) might still be on the river trying to reach the finish line.

“The seat racing and the lineup changes were really good for us because they kept us from getting complacent,” Lambert said. “Everyone in the top boat got raced so every one knew that she deserved to be there.”

Junior Gretchen Weingarth was brought up from the 2V stroke position to the 1V spot, and former stroke co-captain Stef Levner was moved to the five seat. Lambert remained in the six seat, and senior Caroline Fisher and junior Mollie Durkin were moved into the fourth and third seats, respectively.

With Weingarth, whom Lambert describes as “very aggressive,” the 1V boat has a new-look strong block that should rejuvenate the shell just in time for the Eastern Sprints.

“We have really positive stuff to work with this week,” Lambert said.

In the second varsity eight event, Radcliffe remained strong and scored a 3.66 second victory over the Terriers and the aforementioned Black and White first varsity lightweight boat. The 2V heavies traversed the 2,000-meter course in 7:23.15, followed by BU in 7:26.81 and the lights in 7:31.79.

Radcliffe captured both fours races as well.

In the “A” race, the Black and White first boat (8:12.33) took the competition ahead of a four of Radcliffe heavyweight novices (8:18.86), the Terriers (8:28.23) and the Beavers (9:17.24).

The “B” race saw the Black and White second boat (8:40.46) barely edge the Radcliffe first lightweight four (8:41.26) and trounce BU (9:03.27).

Both novice races were claimed by the Terriers, however. In the 1N event, BU (7:41.58) bested the Black and White (7:47.46) by a little under six seconds and MIT (8:03.26) by almost 22 seconds.

The Terriers (8:15.25) terrorized Radcliffe (8:29.35) in the 2N race, winning by more than 14 seconds.

Both teams will be informed of their seeding for the Eastern Sprint championships this week.

The heavies are the defending Eastern Sprint champs, and will be seeking a victory to reassert themselves as the nation’s top crew.

The lights finished second to rival Princeton at last year’s championship. Three times have the Tigers and Black and White squared off this season, with two match-ups going to Princeton but the most recent falling to Radcliffe.

“It should be an incredibly tight race,” Bothwell said. “But we’re up for it.”

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