Crimson Lightweights Seek Sprints Victory

The Crimson heavyweight crew will be out to avenge last year's second place finish and the lightweights will be shooting for an unprecedented fourth consecutive victory in the Eastern Sprint Competition Saturday on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester.

For the heavyweights, Navy and Cornell remain the crews to beat. Both are undefeated this year, and the Middies were very impressive in beating the varsity and Penn for the Adams Cup last Saturday. But "anything can happen in the sprint races," Coach Harvey Love commented. "If the varsity is fired up enough, it has an excellent chance."

Love will send to the sprints virtually the same boat that raced in the Adams Cup last week. Captain Perry Boyden will be stroking, with John Hodges at seven, Larry Timpson at six, and Spencer Borden at five to round out the stern four. In the bow half, Nick Bancroft will row at four, John Breckindidge at three, John Higginson at two, and Al Hager at bow. Jim Rosenstein is the cox.

The lightweights will also have to beat Navy to cop their fourth straight Joseph Wright Trophy. The lightweights' only loss this year was to the Middies, who broke the Crimson's 32 victory streak at the same time.

Close Finish

Navy will be the favorite, but, according to Coach K.C. Chase, there are six crews "which could finish within a length of each other." Chase predicts a "terrific scramble" in the sprints, and if the Crimson can come out on top, it will drown the memory of its streak-breaking loss to Navy earlier this spring.

While the lightweights will be defending their title for a possible record win, the heavyweights will be trying to pull the same kind of upset that defeated them last year. The Crimson was then top-seeded, but the Big Red from Cornell won the championship, decisively beating the varsity by five seconds and a quarter length of open water.

Chase's eight will be racing straight from its victory in the "Big Three" regatta with Yale and Princeton last Saturday for the Goldthwait Cup.