The Radcliffe varsity eight races in its opening IRA
heat.
CAMDEN, N.J. — The Radcliffe lightweight
varsity eight won the repechage and the four placed second in its
heat to qualify for Saturday's grand finals Friday at the
Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships on the
Cooper River.
The Black and White opened the morning with a third-place finish
in its heat, crossing the line in 6:44.575 and trailing
second-place Georgetown by 4.7 seconds. Four hours later, Radcliffe
took to the water again and rallied to a repechage win. Bucknell
took the lead early, with the Black and White leading third-place
MIT by a half-length after 500 meters. After another 500, Radcliffe
had pulled away from the Engineers and Tulsa and was gaining on
Bucknell.
Radcliffe pulled level with the Bison with 400 meters to go and
went on to pass them and win by 2.9 seconds in 6:53.204. Both the
Black and White and Bison will race in the national championship
grand final Saturday at 11:15 a.m. Also competing will be heat
winners Wisconsin and Stanford and runners-up Georgetown and
Princeton.
The varsity four came from behind in its four-team heat to
advance directly to the semifinal. Radcliffe was in fourth place
through 700 meters but soon passed Stanford and entered the second
1,000 meters three-quarters of a length back of second-place
Georgetown. By the final 500, the Black and White had passed the
Hoyas and was moving on leader Bucknell. The Bison hung on by about
three seconds, and Radcliffe finished 3.5 seconds ahead of
Georgetown in 7:50.808.
The grand final for the varsity four will be at 8:24 a.m. and
will put Radcliffe against Stanford, Bucknell, Wisconsin, Loyola
(Md.) and Georgetown.
Varsity Eight
Heat 1
Wisconsin 6:35.636
Georgetown 6:39.891
Radcliffe 6:44.575
Tulsa 7:10.530
Repechage
Radcliffe
6:53.204
Bucknell
6:56.105
MIT
7:01.848
Tulsa 7:11.872
Varsity Four
Heat 1
Bucknell 7:47.767
Radcliffe 7:50.808
Georgetown 7:54.316
Stanford 7:57.190
