'Cliffe Crews Smash Williams

The Radcliffe varsity and J.V. heavyweight crews remained undefeated by smashing Williams in a 1500-meter contest on Lake Onota at Williams Saturday.

The varsity crossed the line in 5:13.6, three lengths ahead of the J.V.'s 5:26.0 and another three lengths in front of the Williams varsity's 5:39.5.

Both Radcliffe eights jumped out at the start, and after 20 strokes it was apparent that the real battle would be between the two Radcliffe crews. At the 500-meter mark, the varsity took a power ten, and moved into a length's lead.

"Things were behind schedule and we didn't really have a good chance to warm up. But that power ten really got us moving," varsity oarswoman Cynthia Strong said yesterday.

The Radcliffe novice eight also enjoyed a victorious weekend, coming from a length behind to stop a strong MIT eight by one length yesterday on the Charles.

The Radcliffe lightweights also had a successful racing weekend as the varsity and J.V. stomped Williams on Lake Onota while the third and fourth boats finished second to MIT on the Charles.

"This was by far our most coherent and consistent race, and it was good to have a racing experience like this before the Sprints next week," coxswain Susie Peterson said yesterday.

The J.V. took a length's lead over Williams into the last 500 meters of the 1500-meter contest, but confusion over the location of the finish line resulted in a late sprint. Williams had cut the lead to two seats before Radcliffe responded by upping the cadence with only ten strokes to go and preserving the victory.

The third and fourth boats finished second to MIT Saturday on the Charles, the third boat in a field of four and the fourth in a field of three.