Heavyweights Win at Home, But Lightweights Fare Worse

On two different rivers, against two different opponents, the two Radcliffe crews raced two decidedly different regattas on Saturday.

For the heavyweights, Saturday’s race against Ivy rivals Cornell and No. 6 Princeton resulted in a convincing and telling victory, returning the squad to the top echelon of women’s heavyweight crew.

For the lightweights, the weekend was a disappointment on some levels, as the crew only found success in the novice eight division. But in taking on the heavyweight teams from Bucknell, Rhode Island, and Boston College, the weekend’s race only served as a training run for the inexperienced lightweights as they prepare for one of the biggest races of their spring season.

CLASS OF 1975 CUP

Coming off a narrow defeat at the hands of now No. 1 Brown last weekend, the Black and White heavyweights were looking to bounce back.

With a six-second victory over the No. 6 Tigers by the Radcliffe first varsity, the mission was accomplished.

“This is definitely an important win,” captain Katie Golden said. “It’s a really fast field this year, so every race is a fight, and every week we need to work to get faster.”

And the Black and White is doing just that. After leading against the Golden Bears last weekend but failing to close out the victory, the crew turned the tide on Saturday, coming from behind, finding its speed, and blowing by both Princeton and Cornell to win with a time of 6:54.9.

The Tigers came in second with a time of 7:00.5, and Cornell pulled up the rear with a 7:22.7 posting.

After trailing over the first 500 meters, the varsity eight settled into its cadence and produced a strong stroke rate over the next 500 meters to move ahead by the midway point in the race.

The team never looked back, coasting to a victory important for its confidence and for its stature as, once again, one of the top heavyweight crews on the river.

“We didn’t have our best start for the first 500—we were a little bit unstable,” Golden said.

“But once we settled into our base cadence, once we got that power, we never looked back,” she added.

While posting wins in its third varsity and novice eight squads, Radcliffe also lost key races in its second varsity eight and third varsity four A regattas.

And for a heavyweight division which requires an entire team effort come NCAA championship time, there is still room to improve for the Black and White.

“This is a team effort—you’re pulling for your boat, but also pulling for your team,” Golden said. “Working together, we can succeed as an entire team.”

LIGHTWEIGHTS

As the Black and White prepared for one of the biggest races of its young spring season next week at the Knecht Cup, the squad traveled to Rhode Island on Saturday to take on the Rhode Island, Bucknell, and Boston College heavyweight crews.

Although the team only attained a victory in the novice eight division on the day, the race was not about the result, as the regatta functioned as an exhibition for the lightweights.

The contest was more about gaining vital experience that the crew has lacked this season, as the Charles did not thaw out until the middle of March—weeks later than expected.

The squad hopes to build off of this challenge and transfer the training into winning next week.

“Obviously, it’s hard to tell from this sort of racing where we stand,” sophomore Rebekah Kharrazi said. “It was more of an opportunity to get another race under our belts.”

Next week at the Knecht Cup, where the team will be facing the best boats in the lightweight field, the Black and White will take any race it can get.

“This weekend is a pretty big test,” Kharrazi said. “We will be able to see pretty well where we are in the field.”

—Staff writer Walter E. Howell can be reached at wehowell@fas.harvard.edu.