Crimson Shells Sink Rivals In Head of Charles Regatta

Harvard crews dominated the Head of the Charles regatta Sunday, topping the 94 other squads entered to win the Paul Revere Trophy for overall performance.

Harvard garnered 461.4 points, placed first in two events and among the top six in three others, while far outdistancing runners-up MIT, Princeton and the Cambridge Boat Club for the overall crown.

Radcliffe's national champion eights, shared the spotlight with Harvard by defeating a tough Vespers Boat Club team from Philadelphia, to avenge a defeat by the Vesper club last year in the Head.

Over 30,000 people crowded riverbanks and jostled for bridge positions to watch the six-hour contest.

Except for an elite eight victory by a University of Wisconsin powerhouse, the ninth annual regatta was all Harvard.

A one-two placing in the intermediate fours demonstrated Crimson rowing dominance. An all-sophomore crew of Dave Bixby, Jim Donaldson, Hovey Kemp. Oliver Shalle and coxswain Bob Larson manned the winning shell.

In elite fours, a Harvard team stroked by Al Shealy with Dave Fellows, juniors Dick Cashen, Ed Woodhouse and senior coxswain Dave Weinberg, notched Harvard's other win.

Although the Moscow-seasoned elite four swamped second place Potomac Boat Club by sixteen seconds in the race against the clock, the crew expressed disbelief when learning of their victory.

"We ran into an official's launch early in the race, and stopped rowing for a minute," bowman Fellows said. "I thought we were out of it."

Crimson heavyweight coach Harry Parker called the Crimson crews' effort "a very good show."

"Even though this regatta is only a very general indication of strength, I was very pleased by Harvard's performance," Parker said.

After completing the three-mile course, Radcliffe's women's eight looked ready for another go-around. It led the field by a four-second margin.

"The confrontation between Radcliffe and Vesper is a very funny rivalry that has grown over the last two years," 'Cliffe captain Connie Cervilla said. "They have always been nationally prominent and we've been trying to catch up to them."

"This year the Russians better worry," Cervilla said, looking ahead to the World Games this summer.

The winning Radcliffe boat included seniors Cervilla, Jenny Getsinger, Lillian Hunt, sophomores Kathy Sullivan, Katy Moss, Wiki Royden and coxswain Nancy Hadley.