Radcliffe Crews Find Varying Degrees of Success on Charles

As the first snow fell on the Charles River Sunday afternoon, the Radcliffe women’s lightweight and heavyweight crews competed in the 45th Annual Head of the Charles Regatta. The Black and White lightweight varsity eight earned a top-five finish with a time of 18:26.343, while its second varsity eight counterpart finished in 19:01.044, good for 11th place in the 14-boat race.

Radcliffe’s top-two heavyweight boats competed in a field of 32 entries, with the first varsity eight finishing 13th in 17:24.968 and the Black and White’s second varsity eight boat placing 22nd in 17:56.641.

The Radcliffe lightweights had positive feelings about the weekend’s races, especially in light of the strange, wintry weather.

“I thought the race was great,” said junior varsity lightweight Leah Schwartz. “The lightweight women had an outstanding performance despite cold and windy conditions...we stayed composed and finished in a good place.”

“I am pleased with the results,” added Radcliffe lightweight coach Heather Cartwright. “I think we still have some work to do, but I’m happy with how the girls performed given the weather today.”

The Black and White lightweight eight finished in third place third among collegiate varsity crews, falling behind only Wisconsin—which won the race—and Georgetown—which finished third. More impressive was the comeback run the Radcliffe lightweight women achieved against rival Princeton.

Despite being behind the Tigers in the final stretch, the Black and White posed a strong finish, making a late push and crossing the line two seconds ahead of Princeton.

Considering that next up for the Radcliffe lightweight teams is the Princeton Chase next weekend, the result is a good—although not conclusive—sign of what to expect when the crew takes on its Ivy opponent.

“We’re only two seconds ahead of Princeton, a very narrow margin, but the race provides the chance to improve upon what we did today,” Cartwright said.

Without a follow-up race to look forward to, the Black and White heavyweight squads were not as pleased with the results of their respective results at the regatta.

“I think that the team didn’t do as well as we hoped,” said varsity heavyweight captain Christine Baugh. “I think everyone went out and raced as hard as they could, and it’s just important for us to see where we are today and use that as a springboard to work harder.”

The Black and White varsity heavyweights finished ninth among collegiate crews, passing by local rivals Northeastern and Dartmouth.

“Of course we’re not happy if we don’t win,” said Radcliffe heavyweight coach Liz O’Leary. “But as long as we did the best we can do, that’s all I can ask. Every time [the heavyweight teams] go out and race, I’m proud of them, although today was not the performance they’re capable of.”

Although the heavyweight crews did not have ideal finishes, the team understood that it was taking on some of the top competition in the world.

“We have to recognize that there are three or four national team crews,” O’Leary said. “Stanford and Yale had really good races...and today just gave us a sense of what we already knew, that it’s a competitive field.”

Stanford—which won the team national title last spring—and Yale have won the last three varsity eight races at NCAAs.

“It wasn’t our best race,” Baugh said. “But this gives us a lot of room to improve technically and continue improving on fitness. Spring season is a long way away, and we just need to continue working to our end-of-the-season goals.”

Both coaches agree that the results today are not a gauge of the spring season.

“This weekend is no indication for the upcoming season,” O’Leary said. “Fall is a very different animal than spring racing.”

“Results in the fall don’t always tell us the story of the results in the spring,” Cartwright agreed. “The fall season is intended to give us the incentive to work harder and be motivated for the spring.”

The Black and White will have plenty of time to tune up for the spring season, with just a few weeks of fall competition left, culminating with the Foot of the Charles on Nov. 14.