Alternating ten foot leads with M.I.T. for almost three quarters of a mile, the varsity crew crossed the finish line on Princeton's Lake Carnegie one foot ahead of the Engineers Saturday to win its ninth consecutive Compton Cup regatta. It was the second time in three years that the Crimson has snatched the Cup by a one foot margin.

Earlier in the afternoon's racing, the freshmen, beaten by Boston University last week, easily defeated Princeton, M.I.T., and Rutgers in order. Harvey Love's crew had the race under control by the half mile mark and finished ahead by a comfortable three lengths and going away.

Only the J.V. suffered a loss among the four races Crimson oarsmen were rowing Saturday. The J.V. 's, impressive in their victory over B.U. and M.I.T. last week, trailed the winning Princeton crew by a length.

A third varsity crew boat, rowing a mile course on the Connecticut River, beat the first Amherst crew by two lengths in a time of 8:10.

So tight was the varsity race that for nearly all of the mile and three quarters course, the Crimson and M.I.T. oarsmen, rowing in adjacent lanes on calm water, could hear each others' conversation.

Up to 40

Lou McCagg stroked the Crimson shell at a 31 beat for most of the race, which was according to custom, but in the final sprint found himself compelled to take it up to 37 and then 40, a greater effort than was necessary in all but the Yale race last year.

Princeton, suffering from a boating shakeup, led the other three entries for the first quarter mile. The Crimson took over the lead at the half mile mark and held it to a little beyond the mid-point of the race. Then M.I.T. began to move up and the bow to bow racing began.

During the beginning of the sprint, M.I.T. appeared to be able to hold its infinitesimal advantage and wrest the Compton Cup from the Crimson. Harvard caught up and the race reached that sort of situation in which the crew that is stroking as it gets to the finish line is the winner. That crew was Harvard. The winning time was 9:08. M.I.T. recorded 9:08.2, Princeton 9:32.6, and Rutgers, distinctly out of the race, 9:45.

Tiger J.V. Leads

In the J.V. race, Princeton grabbed a slight lead and settled into a 38 beat which was sufficient to hold off the Crimson's spurt in the sprint. This week, the J.V. times were substantially below the varsity's as against the season's first race when poor conditions slowed down the first boat. Princeton finished in 9:21.2, Harvard in 9:25.4, M.I.T. in 9:41.6, and Rutgers in 10:27.6.

The freshman times were: Harvard, 9:25.2, Princeton, 9:37.4, M.I.T., 9:39.6, and Rutgers in 10:27.6.