J.V., Frosh Lights Nab EARC Sprints

LAKE QUINSIGAMOND--Everybody knows that Harvard has the best JV crew in the East. Probably they are the best JV crew in the country. Some people say that the Harvard lightweight JV's could easily beat most varsity crews. It sure looked like it Saturday afternoon.

Rowing against a slight headwind the Harvard lightweight JV's with coxswain Burt Levitch, stroke Jerry Boak, Dave Porter (7), Rich Harper (6), Tim Hackert (5), Mark Sieber (4), Jack Foley (3), Greg Miller (2) and Woody Harlan at the bow slot, took off against their arch rival Princeton, and never looked back. Rowing at a 36 for most of the race, Harvard crossed the finish line at 6:30.8, with Princeton more than a length behind coming in at 6:36.2. Navy was third at 6:37.8.

'Blew Them Out'

Greg Miller, a novice rower, said yesterday, "It was just a great race. We had practically all our margin by 1000 meters. We just blew them out; they couldn't keep up. We also rowed an incredibly smooth race."

Coach John Higginson had high words of praise for his JV crew. "It was certainly their best race of the year. They generally muscle their way into the lead, but they row with different styles. Saturday they were really rowing together. It was great. They never were a worry to me. I tonguelashed them a little before, but I didn't worry. I was really glad for Jerry."

Boak, the only senior in the boat, seemed especially pleased at the victory and at the fact that the victory set a new record for consecutive wins. Of his last race, he said last night, "It was a beautiful race. I think it was our best race. It's the only way to go out."

The freshmen lightweights also went out in style. When they move up to new divisions next year, they can look back to a great finish of their freshman season. Rowing in near-perfect conditions, helped by a slight tail wind, the freshmen barreled through the competition, beating Rutgers by open water.

The Yardlings jumped right out at the start and were never headed. By the 500-meter mark they had a substantial five seat advantage, increasing it with every stroke. By the 1000 mark the frosh had open water on its nearest rivals and cruised to victory home-free.

The final time was 6:26.8 for Harvard with Rutgers coming in at 6:31.4 and the others back in the pack.

The only disappointment was that the freshmen were unable to better last year's record sprints margin of victory, eight seconds.

"We really wanted that record" said stroke Clint Rubin, "but we'll take the win."