The Harvard men's varsity heavyweight crew team opened its season in grand style Saturday, winning all three races against Brown in the 35th rowing of the Stein Cup, held on the Charles River.

The Crimson's first and second varsities and first freshman boat all won by narrow margins over the Bears.

In the first varsity race, No. 5-ranked Harvard edged out No. 7 Brown by 2.3 seconds with a time of 5:46.0.

"The usual plan is just to stay close for the first part of the race," junior Jeff Castellano said. "We stayed pretty close through the first 1,000 meters and then pulled ahead. We held a three-quarter-boat-length lead the rest of the race."

In the second varsity race, the Crimson finished with a time of 6:06:37, while the Bears were just behind in 6:07.1.

The first freshman boat had a slightly larger margin of victory, winning by 6.2 seconds with a time of 5:56.0.

Harvard leads the series 29-5 and has won three of the last four meetings between the two crews. The Crimson will face Princeton and MIT next Saturday at Princeton for the Compton Cup.

"Princeton is always tough," Castellano said. "Last year, the varsity beat them by a close margin. Hopefully we'll be able to pull it off again."

Harvard Lightweights

Saturday marked the second regatta of the season for the No. 2 Harvard men's lightweight crew.

Rowing in the 44th Biglin Bowl Regatta, the Crimson took four of the five contested races against No. 7 Dartmouth and No. 10 MIT, with the third Harvard freshman boat rowing uncontested.

In the first varsity race, the Crimson blew past both Dartmouth and MIT, winning with a time of 5:54.6-almost 10 seconds ahead of second-place Dartmouth.

"We moved out in the first 20 strokes and took a good lead in the first minute of the race," co-captain Thomas Fallows said. "We sat on that lead for the next 1,000 meters, and extended it significantly in the sprint."

Harvard's second varsity also won easily, crossing the line at 6:08.8--a7.9-second margin over Dartmouth and a 27.1-second margin over MIT.

The third varsity boat fell to Dartmouth, 7:00.4 to 7:11.1 MIT did not participate in the race.

In the first freshman contest, the Crimson finished in 6:17.7 with Dartmouth behind at 6:23.8 and MIT farther back at 6:26.6.

The second freshman race was more of the same. Harvard won with a time of 6:24.4, 5.1 seconds ahead of Dartmouth and more than 45 seconds ahead of MIT.

Harvard leads the Biglin Bowl series with 37 victories to MIT's five and Dartmouth's one. The Crimson has won the last four meetings of the three teams.

Yesterday, the lightweights went to Princeton, N.J., to face Rutgers on Lake Carnegie.

"They've posted some good results all year and are known as a crew that won't give up," Fallows said. "Their strategy was to go very hard. They front-load their race with everything they've got with the intention of gaining an insurmountable lead."

The Scarlet Knights' stradegy would prove futile as the Crimson swept the races, winning by at least three seconds in each instance.

The first varsity boat won with a time of 5:50.6 The second varsity boat cruised to a time of 6:05.6. The third varsity boat defeated the Scarlet Knights with a time of 6:24.0.

"We went in with the goal of putting together a complete race, combining the good start and good finish with a solid middle of the piece," Fallows said.

The first freshman boat had the closest contest of the day, winning by 3.05 seconds with a time of 6:20.0 The second boat won by almost 15 seconds with a time of 7:15.2.

The Crimson has next week off before facing Princeton and Yale the following week to start the Championship season.

"We know that we are in their ball park," Fallows said. "We'll just work hard over the next two weeks."

Radcliffe

The No.12 Radcliffe heavyweight squad was in action on Saturday with mixed results against No. 21 Cornell and No. 7 Princeton.

The black-and-white's third varsity boat was the only winner for the team. Radcliffe finished with a time of 7:49.2, followed by Princeton with a time of 7:52.3 and Cornell at 7:58.4.

The first and second varsity boats both came in second behind Princeton's squads. The first boat lost by 6:40.8 to 6:41.5, and the second boat fell behind 6:57.1 to 6:59.1. Both teams finished well ahead of Cornell's boats.

"Princeton is always a very, very fast team," senior coxswain Diane Makes said. "We were obviously very disappointed to lose by two seats [in the first varsity race.]"

In that race, the Tigers pulled out in front at the start. Radcliffe stayed with Princeton through the first part, before the Tigers began to pull away.

Radcliffe came charging from behind to cut the margin during the sprint and was still gaining when the boats crossed the finish line.

In the first and second novice divisions, Radcliffe finished third. The first novice race was the closest.

Princeton won with a time of 7:04.7, followed by Cornell at 7:05.6 and Radcliffe at 7:07.4.

The second novice boat finished well behind the first-place Princeton and second-place Cornell boats.

Princeton has won the annual regatta 12 times. Radcliffe has emerged victorious seven times and Cornell has never won.

The Radcliffe heavyweights next face Dartmouth and Syracuse at Hanover, N.H., next Saturday.

Yesterday, the Radcliffe lightweights went to Camden N.J., to face stiff competition and choppy waters on the Cooper River.

The Radcliffe varsity boat came in fourth of five boats with a time of 8:20.64.

Princeton won the race with a time of 7:54.86, well ahead of second-place Villanova, which finished at 8:05.95. An exhibition squad from Cambridge crossed the line at 8:06.56. Virginia raced to third in 8:19.99, followed by Radcliffe. UMass placed last at 9:06.14.