The Radcliffe varsity eight crosses the finish line first in
the petite final (photo courtesy Tim Bennett).
CAMDEN, N.J. —The Radcliffe varsity eight
won the petite final, avenging a pair of dual-season losses in the
process, to cap the Black and White's day at the Eastern
Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Sprints Championships
Sunday on the Cooper River.
The second varsity eight and varsity four each qualified for
grand finals, with the four's fifth-place finish highlighting
Radcliffe's five entries.
The varsity eight finished third, one spot outside of the grand
final in its morning heat, but came back to win the petite final in
6:43.353. The time was more than three seconds faster than
Northeastern and more than seven better than Columbia. Both
opponents defeated the Black and White in the Beanpot regatta two
weeks ago and were ranked ahead of 10th-seeded Radcliffe. Yale won
a tightly contested grand final.
“It's hard when you put it all on the line to make
the grand final in the morning like we did,” said Radcliffe
head coach Liz O'Leary. “To be able to regroup and win
the petite final was a great way to finish. It's always good
to end on a positive note and continue to make progress.
The second varsity placed second in its heat and hung with the
leaders for half of the grand final. In the end, Princeton pulled
away to the win, while Radcliffe finished about 4.8 seconds behind
fifth-place Cornell in 6:53.533. The varsity four battled with
Cornell and Princeton throughout its grand final, crossing the
finish about a second after the Big Red, 1.5 after the Tigers and
about four behind second-place Yale. Brown won the race.
“Both our second varsity and varsity four put it all out
there and were competitive in their grand finals,”
O'Leary said. “I think everyone on our young team
learned a lot this weekend and got a taste of what it takes to
compete at the highest level.”
The varsity four B and third varsity eight both placed second in
their respective petite finals.
Varsity Eight
Heat 3
Brown
6:36.032
Dartmouth
6:40.131
Radcliffe
6:47.550
Syracuse
6:58.557
Boston College7:09.645
MIT 7:13.301
Petite Final
Radcliffe
6:43.353
Northeastern 6:46.924
Columbia
6:50.828
Syracuse
6:55.432
Boston University
6:59.773
Rutgers 7:01.818
Second Varsity Eight
Heat 2
Princeton
6:46.941
Radcliffe
6:54.962
Northeastern 6:57.830
Pennsylvania 7:00.385
Navy
7:12.463
Boston College 7:19.061
Grand Final
Princeton
6:35.998
Brown
6:40.798
Yale
6:44.518
Columbia
6:47.788
Cornell
6:48.701
Radcliffe 6:53.533
Varsity Four
Heat 1
Princeton
7:33.262
Radcliffe
7:39.179
Navy
7:42.351
Dartmouth
7:52.497
Syracuse 8:12.349
Grand Final
Brown
7:10.852
Yale
7:18.353
Princeton
7:20.828
Cornell
7:21.331
Radcliffe
7:22.392
Boston University 7:48.437
Varsity Four B
Heat 2
Yale
7:54.038
Cornell
7:57.920
Penn
8:08.565
Radcliffe
8:12.390
George Washington
8:21.142
Boston College8:27.812
Petite Final
Bucknell
8:03.707
Radcliffe
8:12.150
George Washington
8:17.330
Boston
College8:21.675
Syracuse 8:25.331
Third Varsity Eight
Heat 3
Yale
7:13.347
Bucknell
7:19.923
Radcliffe
7:25.153
Dartmouth 7:27.213
Petite Final
Penn
7:08.139
Radcliffe
7:12.310
Columbia
7:14.397
Dartmouth
7:22.873
Boston University
7:27.384
Syracuse 7:37.266
