CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Radcliffe Heavyweight Rowing took the lid off its 2023-24 campaign on Saturday at the Head of the Charles Regatta. The Black and White had three boats compete, with its Championship Doubles duo of
Monah Javidan-Nejad and
Meredith Kent winning the Liz O'Leary Trophy and the Club Four entry taking second place.
Javidan-Nejad (1) and Kent (2) competed in the Championship Doubles event and finished 10
th overall (19:35.465), but was first in the College-Championship Division. With its top division time, the duo captured the newly introduced Liz O'Leary Trophy, which will be awarded each year to the winner of the Women's Championship Collegiate Double.
The Radcliffe quintet of
Bridget Kondrat (c),
Amelia Clark (4),
Grace De Vita (3),
Piper Cyterski (2) and
Leah Bailey (1) navigated the course in 18:01.976 to finish second behind Duke (17:46.122). The Black and White runner-up effort was also tops among its Ivy League counterparts as Penn (18:13.826), Columbia (18:14.412) and Dartmouth (18:20.506) rounded out the top five.
In the Club Eight competition, Radcliffe posted the seventh-best time, clocking in at 16:46.921. The Black and White's entry consisted of
Gillian Selig (c),
Alexandria Lange (1),
Francesca Gardella (2),
Sarah Averill (3),
Heidi Jacobson (4),
Catherine Van Stone (5),
Aidan Wrenn-Walz (6),
Jenna Kempster-Taylor (7) and
Orla Harvey (8). Yale ultimately finished in first place with a time of 16:10.900.
The Black and White return to the Charles River on Sunday for the final day of the Head of the Charles Regatta. Radcliffe is slated to race in the Championship Eight at 2:32 p.m.
