Three Harvard crews will try to justify their position as the top-seeded boats in the Eastern Sprint competition Saturday at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester.

Owner of an already unprecedented string of four Eastern championships, the varsity lightweights will seek their fifth straight title in as many years. The competition in the lightweight division is much rougher this year than it has been in the past, however, and the Crimson has not yet reached its full potential. Coach Larry Coolidge said yesterday.

The varsity lightweights are seeded first, along with the undefeated heavy and lightweight JV's. The varsity heavyweights are not among the top-ranked, but have as good a chance as the other crews, with the exception of undefeated Cornell, the top seed. Behind the Big Red in the heavyweight seedings are Yale, MIT, and Penn in that order.

For the fourth straight week in a row, Coolidge will be racing a revamped varsity boat. It will have Forney Hutchinson at bow; Iver Peterson at two; Bob Russell at three; Jim Richard at four; Dave Welch at five; Jim McMahon at six; Martyn Greenacre at seven; and Captain Jim Miller at stroke, with John Kearney counting.

The varsity heavyweight boat will be the same that just lost to Penn last week, with Alan Hager, bow; Captain John Higginson, two; John Hodges, three; Doug Robertson, four; Spencer Borden, five; Nick Bancroft, six; Harry Pollock, seven; Mike Dennis, stroke; and Bob Goodwin, cox.