“It is a great incentive,” said sophomore Heather Schofield of the first varsity. “[The last race against Brown] was a close enough race that we think we can win.”

When the Black and White met Brown and Princeton again on the Cooper River in Eastern Sprints, the Radcliffe rowers’ confidence shined through.

Brown, Princeton and Radcliffe jockeyed for position for 1000 meters. Princeton got the early start as expected. Radcliffe pulled ahead of Brown in second place than made its move 200 meters past the halfway point.

“We were ahead of Princeton and our coxswain was just like, ‘You are in first place right now!’” Brown said. “We all latched on and would not let go.”

Radcliffe never trailed again and the Brown dynasty at Eastern Sprints was finished. The Black and White had all the confidence it needed going into NCAAs.

The rest is history.

—Staff writer John R. Hein can be reached at hein@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at deremer@post.harvard.edu.