Radcliffe Heavyweights Sweep Five Weekend Races

After mixed results at the Class of 1975 Cup at Princeton, N.J., on April 7, the No. 12 Radcliffe heavyweights returned to their winning ways against Ancient Eight rival Dartmouth and Syracuse this Saturday.

For the day, the Black and White (7-3) completed a sweep against the weekend challengers with wins in all five of its race on the Charles River.

In addition to four victories over the Big Green and the Orange, the Crimson third varsity eight, split into two groups of fours—varsity fours C and D—topped Northeastern.

In its marquee matchup, the 1V race, Radcliffe (5-1) held off the Big Green to recapture the O’Leary Cup after a two-year drought and return it into the hands of the trophy’s namesake—Radcliffe coach Liz O’Leary.

“This weekend, we feel like we really got to show the Ivy league what we are made out of,” senior Liz Soutter said. “We’ve definitely had a couple of bad races in the past couple of weeks. We’ve had a couple of challenging races with challenging conditions, but today we all executed really well across the board.”

In the 1V race, the heavyweights’ first of the day, all three crews launched off well from the starting line, with the Black and White 1V holding a small one-seat lead.

As the race approached the 500-meter mark and the crews settled down to their base rate strokes, Radcliffe had extended its advantage to a half length while the Big Green and the Orange (5-7) remained locked in a fierce battle for second.

In the final 500 meters of the race, Dartmouth had firmly established a lead over Syracuse and looked to threaten the Black and White for the lead.

But as the race wound down to the final 250 meters of the race and all crews began their sprint to the finish line, Radcliffe was able to counter the Big Green’s strong final sprint to finish first with a time of 6:56.8.

Dartmouth came in 1.6 seconds behind the Black and White with a time of 6:58.2, while the Orange finished in 7.01.1.

“I think the race, at least for the 1V, was an ideal race for us,” Soutter said. “Every part of the race went according to plan.”

“With every race, even one like this one, you will still have a bad stroke here and there,” Soutter continued. “But the most important thing about bad strokes is how you recover from them, and I think that we were able to blend well with one another and respond to every call that our coxswain made.”

Radcliffe’s 1.6-second margin of victory over the Big Green and Syracuse was ultimately its smallest of the day.

In its four later races, Black and White crews dominated right off the starting line and cruised to the finish line with resounding victories. In the second varsity race, the Radcliffe 2V started the race with a lead and never looked back, finishing the course with a time of 7.12.3, nearly 16 seconds ahead of second place finishers Dartmouth.

The varsity four A also bested its competition with a 13.4-second win, finishing in 7.57.9, while the varsity four B came in 7.1 seconds ahead of its Dartmouth counterparts in 8.15.5.

In its final race of the day, the Black and White faced off against local rival Northeastern. Though the Radcliffe third varsity eight was split into varsity fours C and D, Northeastern was no match.

The two boats quickly pulled away from the Huskies: The varsity four C came in first at 8:31.5, followed by the varsity four D eight seconds later, and Northeastern finished in third with a time of 8:47.0.

In addition to recapturing the O’Leary Cup, Saturday’s race had some additional significance for several members of the Radcliffe heavyweight program. For seniors, Jill Carlson, an inactive Crimson business editor, Anne Carroll Ingersoll, Meg Kehan, Christina McClintock, also a Crimson sports editor, Liz Soutter, and Kirsten Van Fossen, this past weekend’s race was their last time out on the Charles with the Black and White.

“Today was a really emotional day for us all,” Soutter said.

After taking on Dartmouth, Syracuse, and Northeastern this past weekend, the Black and White will travel to Yale for the Case Cup.

In last year’s race, Radcliffe knocked off the then-defending NCAA varsity champions Bulldogs and captured its first Case Cup victory after an eight-year drought.

—Staff writer Oluwatoni A. Campbell can be reached at oluwatoni.campbell@college.harvard.edu.