CREW

Dartmouth's lightweight oarsmen are the talk of" the Green rowing clan this spring.

It's been a while since the Green lights have enjoyed much success but the performances that turned some heads late last season have continued this spring.

The peak was reached at the Eastern Sprint championships on May 13 as Dartmouth finished fifth after capable showings in. three cup races that brought a victory over Rutgers and Yale for the Durand Cup and secondplace performances against Harvard (the Eastern champ) in the Biglin Bowl race and Cornell .(by 1.4 seconds) in the Baggaley Cup race.

"They're our best boat," said Coach Peter Gardner, who planned to move a couple of the lightweight oarsmen into the heavyweight varsity boat for the intercollegiate championships at Syracuse in early June. The heavyweights are rebuilding and Gardner's objective of a "best showing" at the IRA regatta seems likely.

In the Bill Cup race the heavies took second to Rutgers and nipped Boston University. In the Cochrane Cup regatta, which was shifted from Hanover to Cambridge, M.I.T. edged Wisconsin and Dartmouth was three lengths astern.

A week later at the Sprints, however, Dartmouth's time in the trial heats was less than three seconds behind M.I.T. and that performance gave Gardner hope for improvement in the Packard Cup race with Syracuse and the Engineers.

As with track, the conditions on the Connecticut River haven't been conducive to extensive practice and it's cost Dartmouth in terms of sustaining the positive signs that showed after the spring training in Alabama.

Track captain Tom Byron, winner ofthe Kenneth Archibald Athletic Prize asthe best all-around athlete in his Class.