Heavyweights Face MIT, Princeton In Compton Cup Contest on Charles

Harvard's heavyweight crew will not be defending its national championship title against aspirants MIT and Princeton on the Charles today.

The varsity team followed that course last Saturday and was far from pleased with the results--a mere two-length victory over traditional Ivy doormat crew Brown.

No, today the heavies will not be defending anything. They will be racing, and challenging MIT, the Charles's crew that is most voracious for victory over Harvard, in its annual Compton Cup competition.

Oddly enough, it is easier to race a crew you know will be fast than it is to race one you know is not. Or so the Crimson heavies say they hope, because they know MIT is fast. As Harvard coach Harry Parker said yesterday. "MIT is strong and fast and very hard to beat."

Ramblin' Wrecks

With 1974 world champion John Everett at number four, the MIT machine has outslugged crews from Columbia, Yale, Northeastern and Boston University in the past three weeks. The Engineers' strategy is simple and effective: roar out of the start, and motor past all contenders in the first minute or two of each race.

MIT will be shifting into an even higher gear for its bout with Harvard. But, then again, Harvard has been revving up all week for the challenge.

The Crimson heavies did not take their poor performance last Saturday lightly. Their new motto is "DECISIVE!" And they are anxious to demonstrate their speed and skill, and decimate anyone this weekend. In their quest to beat Harvard, the Engineers could not have selected a more unfortunate racing date.

But whatever the date, MIT would have had to face a line-up which would make any crew coach salivate. At stroke and number six are AI Shealy and Dick Cashin respectively, both members of that 1974 world championship eight. Two other oarsmen from Harvard's 1974 national championship varsity. Tif Wood and Blair Brooks are returning, as is 6 ft., 5 in., powerhouse John Brock of last year's first freshman boat.

Junior Hovey Kemp, who helped the varsity to victory in San Diego, will be back to warm the number-five seat. Parker had farmed Kemp out to the J.V. for the Brown race, a switch which spurred one bewildered oarsman to say of Parker. "They don't call him ol' Weird Harold for nothing."

But Parker was far from weird as he calculated Saturday's probable scenario. "Harvard has good speed out of the start," Parker said. "We ought to be able to stay close of MIT off the line. After that, it will be a question of which crew can race it better."

When asked whether Harvard could, stroke Shealy at first sounded as if he was trying to psych himself up. "We're going to beat these guys," he said. "MIT hasn't beaten us yet and they ain't going to start on Saturday."

Then, as he talked about Harvard's fast 1000-meter times and this week's improved rowing. Shealy's confidence increased. Cool and convinced, he concluded, "We're going to blow the doors off MIT."