WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University women's rowing team sent two lightweight crews to Boston this past weekend to race against Harvard-Radcliffe in the Class of 2004 Cup. The varsity 8+ and varsity 4+ boats for the Hoyas and Crimson competed in 2,000-meter races on the Charles River.

Racing upstream and against a slight headwind, Georgetown's varsity 8+ crossed the finish line in 7:42.5, finishing behind the Crimson's "A" and "B" boats. The Hoyas got off to a clean, aggressive start for the first 750 meters, but were unable to keep up with the Harvard-Radcliffe crews.

"We knew that this was going to be a tough race," Georgetown Head Coach Stephen Full said. "We need to see what top speed looks like for our young athletes. This was a great learning experience for us I look forward to seeing Harvard again, come the IRA championship"

In the varsity 4+ race, the Hoyas got off to a tense start, giving a Harvard-Radcliffe the edge after the first 250 meters. Georgetown settled down and rowed a well-executed race over the final 1,250 meters, finishing in a time of 9:10.5, 26 seconds behind the Crimson.

"We were really happy to see our novice freshman being so aggressive throughout the race," Full said.

The GU women's rowing team returns home to the friendly waters of the Potomac River this weekend, April 8-9, for the GW Invite.

Varsity 8+ Lineup
Coxswain: Michaela McCool (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria)
Lindsay Olita (Vineland, N.J./Vineland)
Joanna Moley (Darien, Conn./Greens Farms Academy)
Natalia Keohane (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatious)
Adrianna Soto-Wright (Concord, Mass./Concord Carlisle)
Natalie Soto-Wright (Concord, Mass./Concord Carlisle)
Emily Marshall (Toronto, Ontario/Branksome Hall)
Caroline Thomas (Vienna, Va./James Madison HS)
Grace Benson (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd)

Varsity 4+ Lineup
Megan Walsh
Cleo Wienbar
Hannah Schmidt
Morgan Sheer
Coxswain: Allie Garceau (Atkinson, N.H./Phillips Exeter Academy)