Radcliffe claims rowing's Beanpot
Fifty-five years after getting its start on a frozen pond, the Beanpot reached the rippling river as Boston's four Division 1 schools -- Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern, and Harvard-Radcliffe -- were joined by MIT for the first-ever women's rowing Beanpot yesterday morning on a calm Charles River.
And as its men's hockey brethren did more than five decades ago, Harvard-Radcliffe captured the inaugural trophy with a decisive victory in the varsity race. The Black and White also claimed the team title for overall performance in the five-race regatta.
The event also marked the final opportunity for these crews to solidify their seeding for the Eastern Sprints in two weeks. Radcliffe is currently fifth in the East, one spot ahead of Northeastern and five places in front of BU.
At No. 15 and 18, respectively, BC and MIT were looking for strong finishes to improve their rankings.
Not long after the start, Radcliffe and Northeastern cleared the field and became locked in a battle for the lead. The Black and White edged ahead at the 400-meter mark, and the margin grew to 1 length by 1,000 meters.
It was more of the same over the final 1,000 meters as Radcliffe's lead swelled to nearly 3 lengths before it finished in 6:35.7, sending the boat's two seniors, Katie Golden (No. 7) and Carrie Williams (bow), out with a victory in their final home race.
Northeastern went unchallenged for second place, completing the course in 6:45.3, while BU (6:53.5) fended off a spirited row from BC (6:53.9) to earn third. MIT (7:31.1) placed a distant fifth.
"What I liked best out there was our middle 500 meters," said Radcliffe coach Liz O'Leary. "That's where races are won and lost, and we were strong and composed in the body of the race, which allowed our moves to be effective.
"But it's easy to find a rhythm when you're in the lead. Our challenge will be to repeat that type of performance at Sprints."
Northeastern carried a 7-2 dual record into the race, sporting times that had coach Joe Wilhelm believing his crew could pull off a mild upset.
"We rowed our game plan at the start but never got into the rhythm that I've seen from our crew in other races this season," he said. "We knew we had to match Radcliffe's speed in the second 500 meters, but our strokes were too short and too high. By the time we made a move, we found ourselves too far behind for it to have an impact."
BU coach Holly Hatton embraced the Beanpot concept.
"The genesis behind the idea was twofold," she said. "First, it brings all of the river's crews together for a race right before Sprints while utilizing the Beanpot concept we've seen in other sports. It's also opened up a weekend on the schedule for us to attract some of the nation's top crews to Boston, which we did this year with the Charles River Challenge that included [current No. 1] USC and Texas."
Several traditional trophies were also at stake in the varsity race. NU regained the Council Cup by finishing ahead of BU, while Radcliffe took home the Jeanne Rowlands Cup (over NU) and the Allen-DeWolfe Trophy (by beating BU). Radcliffe also won the second varsity, varsity four, and novice races.
BU was the winner in the varsity four B contest.
