'Cliffe Lights Sink Williams

The Radcliffe junior varsity lightweight boat surprised their varsity counterparts, not to mention the crew from Williams, as they cruised across the finish line in 6:42.6--a full six seconds ahead of the trailing varsity--in a race troubled by high winds, choppy water, and icy temperatures Saturday on the Charles.

"It was a mess out there," said Kathy Kirk, who sits third for the varsity. "It really was not fair. It was a question of the weather over everybody."

The race course was shortened from the normal 1500 meters to approximately 1400 meters, beginning below the Northeastern boathouse and finishing at Peabody Terrace with two bridges in the middle, because a strong quartering headwind (in between a direct crosswind and a direct headwind) worked havoc in the basin, making in unrowable.

The race that officially counted was the second attempt of the afternoon. The Williams coxswain, unable to negotiate the first bridge with company under the arches, steered into the Radcliffe varsity. Threee oars splintered in the collision and the contest restarted nearly one hour and many frozen fingers later.

"The Williams boat suffered because of their coxswain," Radcliffe coach Peter Huntsman said. "She wasn't used to the course or such strong crosswinds."

In the first race the three boats were even until the collision (about halfway into the course); however, the second time through a half-length of open water separated the Effman from the leaders by the mid-point.

The victorious J.V. boat (cox-Ellen Chaffin, stroke-Liz Siderides, 7-Sarah Gallup, 6-Ellen Roy, 5-Cathy Vance, 4-Kate Heller, 3-Allison Herron, 2-Noreen Hughes, bow-Sarah Boxer) raced although they failed to make weight. Two women were over the 130-lb, maximum and the boat average was higher than the allowed 125 lbs. Both the other two squads qualified easily.

No Big Deal

J.V. stroke Liz Siderides was not impressed with her boat's upset of the varsity. "This kind of thing happens every year," she said. "Last year the third boat beat the J.V. in the first race of the season, but it never happened again. All that's important is that both boats beat Williams our most difficult competition of the year."

The coach, however, took the turn-around more seriously. "The only other time the two boats have worked against each other, the varsity was clearly better. This time the J.V. were clearly better. I just don't know what to do right now, I'll have to think about it this coming week."

In order to aid in his decision, Huntsman is giving the J.V. another stab at the varsity in this morning's practice.

While Kirk concedes that such upsets are "part of the fine-tuning" that goes into establishing a varsity line-up, she is determined that "it won't happen again."

Next Saturday, the lights take on Syracuse here in Cambridge.