Heavies Hassle Huskies in Headwind by Five Secs.

Early Saturday morning, while the rest of Harvard slept off Friday night revelries, the varsity heavyweight crew muscled its way through a strong headwind and past Northeastern for a five-second victory on the Charles River.

Despite rough racing conditions and a poor start, Harvard Coach Harry Parker labeled his squad's performance "encouraging."

Northeastern jumped to a four-seat lead in the first 500 meters of the 2000-meter race, but the Crimson rowed steadily through the Huskies and enjoyed a small lead by the time the crews passed the Mass. Ave. Bridge at the halfway mark.

The oarsmen continued to push the margin, and led by open water when they crossed the line in 6:22. Northeastern followed in 6:27.

The contest was the first for the Crimson after its loss last Saturday on the Charles to a strong University of Pennsylvania crew. With just two weeks until a rematch with the Quakers at the Eastern Sprint Championships, Harvard looked at the Northeastern victory as an indication of progress.

"It's a step in the right direction," Parker said. "But we might have to get even a little faster yet."

Saturday's race saw several new faces in the Harvard eight. George Hunnewell moved up from the JV to replace Dan Grout as varsity stroke, a position Hunnewell held for a portion of last season. Junior Mike Scott at two and senior Steve Potter at three replaced sophomores Mark Schoeffel and Tom Mills.

Coxswain Devin Mahony gave the new line-up high marks. "It was the first really good, solid, aggressive, thinking race we've had," Mahony said. "And now, if we can just do that with a little more intensity, we'll be right in there [at the Eastern Sprints]."

The rest of the heavyweight crews blew away their cross-town competition to preserve Harvard's perfect record below the varsity level. The Crimson JV left the Huskies 15 seconds back, 6:33.3 to 6:48.7, and the freshman powered out a 19-second win, 6:24.2 to 6:53.6.