Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1897-07-03
YALE FRESHMEN WIN.
Harvard and Cornell Defeated in
Remarkably Fast Time.
FRESHMEN RECORDS LOWERED.

FRESHMEN RECORDS LOWERED.
The New Haven Students Covered the
Two Mile Course in Nine Minutes,
Nineteen and Half Seconds-Har-
ward Close Second.
Poughkeepsie. N. Y. June 24.-Three
crews of freshmen on the Hudson last
evening smashed to smithereens all
previous records for freshmen on a two
mile course, and put up one of the hot
test intercollegiate races ever wit
messed in this country. A crew of
sturdy Yale freshmen rowed the two
miles course in 9 minutes 1919 seconds;
a triGe lighter crew of Harvard fresh
men fought them every inch of the
way, and finished a trihe over two
lengths behind in 9.26l2, and the Cor
nell freshmen, whose college record is
that none of its freshmen crews have
ever been beaten before, finished a
length behind Harvard in 9.2s1a. The
best previous record for two miles was
9.41, made by the Columbia freshmen
crew of '94. at New London, in 1891.
While the conditions here are better
for fast time than they are upon the
Thames. and while, therefore, some al
lowance should be made for the much
better exhibition, yesterdays race was
a very remarkable one, all three of the
crews having lowered the record, the
last crew in the race-Cornell-doing
so by liz seconds. All three of the
crews used every pound of power in
their boats at every stage of the two
miles, and each crew at some period of
the race was in the lead
The victory of Yesterday is looked
upon by the crowds here as being in
some measure indicative of the result
of tomorrow's big varsity race 1t is
not contended that the order of finish
Will be the same. for Mr.. Lehman,
of Harvard, has all along said that his
freshmen had been badly neglected
and could not be looked upon as a rep
resentative freshmen crew. On the
contrary, the Yale crew of youngsters
has been said to be more sure of win
ming than their varsity, while Mr..
Courtney's Cornell crews have had
equal attention paid to them. The
chances, therefore, as picked out today
are that the order of Fridays finish
is likely to be Harvard, Yale Cornell.
On account of the rough water at the
bridge the race was postponed until
Z o'clock last evening, and at ten min
utes past that hour the boats We're
started. Harvard got the best clip on
the water, and in a few strokes drew to
the front, closely followed by the Cor
nell crew, with Yale almost a quarter
length to the rear. Harvard and Cor
nell started at So strokes to the min
ute, and Yale at a sweeping stroke of
81. At the eighth mile Yale, finding
that she was trailing behind. increased
her stroke to SO, and began to draw up,
while Harvard and Cornell dropped
down to "a each. At the quarter Yale
was still behind, but seemed to be
rowing easily, while Harvard and Cor
nell were working hard, Cornell draw
ing up upon the Harvard lead.
Yale was casing up her stroke, and
within the next half mile brought it
down to SO and "a, but even then she
seemed to gain. and there was a per-
ceptible dash to the boat that seemed
lacking in the others. There was little
or no hang, while the Harvard boat
seemed to 20 hard, and the Cornell
boys did not seem to be able to keep
up to the mark, acting as though they
had finely trained. AT the three-quar-
ter mark Yale was coming up rapidly
on Harvard and Cornell, rowing 80 to
the minute, while the two latter, evil
IDENTIFY feeling the effect of the pace in
the first mile, had dropped to "a each
Just crossing the mile line Yale had
pulled her boat up even with that of
Harvard and was showing its nose for
ward few inches with each stroke
Cornell was laboring a length behind
Harvard, rowing a rapid Sc stroke to
Harvard's IS and Yale's steady SO.
From that point on TO the finish
Yale rowed steadily at 80 and "a,
quickening to 36 several lengths from
the finish in an endeavor to make the
breach between her old enemy, Har-
ward, and herself a trifle wider. And
although Harvard picked her strokes
up to SO after passing the mile, and
held it there until the finish, it lacked
power, and the boat dropped gradually
behind, crossing the line a tride over
two lengths behind the Yale boat.
When Yale passed both the Harvard
and Cornell crews, just beyond the
mile mark, Cornell, who had pulled
their boat on to even terms and per-
haps, as seen from the observation
train, slightly in advance of Harvard,
made a desperate effort to keep Yale
from gaining, but it was of less avail
even than Harvard's effort, and at the
mile and half there was clear water
between Cornell and Harvard. From
there on to the finish Cornell whooped
It up to So per minute and closed the
gap slightly, finishing just about an
even length in Harvard's rear.
None of the Crews seemed distressed
when they finished, but Yale was de-
cidedly the freshest of the three When
the men of Yale turned their boats
nose toward their own house there
was tornado of shrieking whistles,
horns and hoarse shouts.
Mr.. Courtney, of the CORNELL crew,
said today that his freshmen were
beaten by the heaviness of the Yale
crew, which was too much for them in
n two mile race. He said they were
fairly beaten by greater strength, and
that there was nothing to be added to
that expression.