SEASON RECAP: Lightweights Race To Sprints Success

It’s not very often that Radcliffe heavyweight crew (4-7) enters the championship season as an unranked team with more losses than wins.

But for the rowers of the Black and White, rather than succumb to the frustration of earlier regatta disappointments, they chose to use them as motivation in preparation for the EAWRC sprints held on May 16.

“Because it’s been such a hard season, we’re just really excited to come out and make the most of our time at [Sprints],” co-captain Laura Huppert said before the race. “I’ve been really impressed with the dedication and commitment to be able to come back from races where we didn’t do as well as we hoped, and come out the next day in practice and continue to go after it and work hard to get faster.”

The result? Redemption at Sprints, as the varsity eight claimed the fastest time in the petite finals with a time of 6:43.35.

Radcliffe started off the dual season with strong results at the San Diego Crew Classic, as both the varsity eight and second varsity eight crews reached the finals to place fifth and sixth, respectively.

Faced with a daunting conference schedule that pitted the Black and White against each of the top seven seeds in the EAWRC, Radcliffe posted losses to Brown, Cornell, Princeton, and Dartmouth.

“I had hoped we had made progress in the past week [at practice], but obviously the results didn’t show that,” said Black and White coach Liz O’Leary after her varsity eight finished nearly 27 seconds behind Princeton on Apr. 10.

After a non-conference win against Syracuse, the struggles continued for Radcliffe, as the crews headed out to New Haven only to be swept by Yale in all five races.

But the losing streak would end there, as Radcliffe posted strong showings in all six races of the Beanpot regatta earlier this month to claim the team championship for the second straight year.

“[The Beanpot] was our last opportunity to put out a really good race before Sprints,” Huppert said. “Everybody knew going into the race that this was our shot of really turning things around.”

The fourth-ranked lightweight crew (4-3) also began its dual season with high expectations, but unlike its heavyweight counterpart, the Black and White found considerable success on the waters of the Charles.

After a season-opening win against Buffalo, Radcliffe hosted Georgetown in the Class of 1974 Cup. With an established rhythm on the water, the varsity eight came from behind to seize its first trophy of the season with a time of 7:24.5.

“We worked really hard all winter, and it was nice to come into the spring season and see that work pay off,” said junior 1V rower Lizzy Bates after the regatta.

But the Black and White would suffer its first loss of the season against then-No. 2 Stanford. Faced with strong tailwinds and frigid weather, Radcliffe fell to the Cardinal by nearly 12 seconds in the varsity eight race. And though the Black and White took home the loss, the 2V boat’s strong performance—the crew finished 7.5 seconds ahead of Stanford in its race—reflected the team’s improvement over the course of the season.

Radcliffe resumed its conference schedule the following week against Princeton and Bucknell. In a race that saw multiple lead changes on the waters of Lake Carnegie, the Black and White started off the race with the early lead, but the Tigers eventually came back to finish first with a time of 7:14.6. Radcliffe wasn’t far behind, posting a strong second-place finish at 7:16.9.

The Black and White closed the regular season earlier this month against MIT and No. 1 Wisconsin. Radcliffe’s runner-up finish and time of 6:58.8 was enough to beat MIT to claim the Muri Cup for the second straight year.

With momentum from the victory over the Engineers, the Black and White entered Eastern Sprints on May 16 with confidence that it could achieve its season goals.

“One of the goals we had set in September was to have every boat medal at the Eastern Sprints, and we accomplished that,” co-captain Amanda Pfabe said.

The varsity eight took third place with a time of 6:46.6, falling only to Wisconsin and Princeton. The second varsity, varsity four, and novice eight all took second place in their respective races.

“We really showed our depth, so we’re really happy about that,” Pfabe said after the race. “Throughout the season, we really learned about pushing ourselves, and I think that showed today.”

The lightweights will wrap up their season at the IRA National Championships June 3-5.

—Staff writer Kevin T. Chen can be reached at ktchen@fas.harvard.edu.