Belmont Hill School gains the edge on opening day
HENLEY-ON-THAMES, England -- American crews had mixed results yesterday on the first day of racing at the Henley Royal Regatta.
In the opening round of the Princess Elizabeth Cup for schoolboy eights, Belmont Hill School from Massachusetts beat St. Paul's School from Concord, N.H., by two-thirds of a length in the first all-American contest. St. Paul's took the early lead but Belmont evened it after a mile and then pushed its bow in front.
In the same event, Thomas Jefferson High School from Alexandria, Va., beat Northern Ireland's Methodist College. Florida's Winter Park lost by 2 1/4 lengths to St. Ignatius College, Adelaide, Australia.
In the Prince Albert Cup for student coxed fours, Colgate University split two races. The A crew won by a half-length over Trinity College of Dublin, but the B crew lost by three lengths to London's Imperial College.
In the same event, New York's Rochester Institute of Technology lost by 3 1/2 lengths to England's Newcastle University.
In the Temple Cup for student eights, Brown University downed Jesus College of Cambridge, England, and Cal-Berkeley defeated First & Third Trinity of Cambridge, England.
In the same event, Cornell won by two lengths over Durham University, England, and Colgate beat England's Oxford Brookes University by 1 1/2 lengths.
The Temple Cup also featured an all-American clash between Georgetown and Dartmouth. The crews raced evenly for the first half-mile before Georgetown pushed ahead to win by 2 1/2 lengths.
Meanwhile, Syracuse led Scotland's Glasgow University from the first stroke, cruising to a 4 3/4-length victory.
In the Thames Cup for club eights, Green Lake from Seattle edged local English crew Kingston by 1 3/4 lengths; the Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club won by 2 1/4 lengths over London's Mortlake, Anglian & Alpha; and Potomac from Washington, D.C. enjoyed a 3-length victory over Vesta from London.
In the Wyfold Cup for club coxless fours, local club Henley crashed into the booms that mark the limits of the course to draw against New York Athletic Club crew.
