Crimson Track Team Places Fifth In Heptagonals With Weak Showing

Meeting more than its share of frustrations and disappointments, the Crimson track team finished a weak fifth in the Heptagonals Saturday at Cornell. No varsity performer was able to take a first place, as the Crimson made its worst Heps showing since 1954.

Yale tripled the varsity's score in winning the meet, totaling 51 7/10 to the Crimson's 17 1/5. Army took second with 41 points, followed by surprising Navy with 38 1/5 and Penn with 29 7/10. Cornell, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth and Princeton finished well back.

Hurdler Joel Landau, the varsity's best bet for a first place, did a heroic job in untangling his form well enough to give Brown's Angelo Sinisi a battle. Leading the field over the last hurdle, Landau hit the barrier, a very rare occurrence, and lost to Sinisi by the narrowest of margins.

In the mile, the Crimson's Jed Fitzgerald found himself in the unfamiliar situation of leading the pack through a very fast first quarter. Fitzgerald couldn't keep up the pace he set for himself, however, and he faded badly.

Dyke Benjamin came in fifth, 17 seconds behind Dick Greene set a Heps and Barton Hall record of 9:20.7. Dash man Sandy Dodge was a disappinting fifth in a blanket finish at 60 yards, and the Crimson failed to score in the 600, the 1000, and both jumps.

There were some bright spots, nonetheless. Jim Doty tossed the 35-lb. weight 55 ft., 10 1/2 in. to finish second to Army's Ed Bagdonas, and Hank Abbot took fourth in the shot put with a good 50 ft., 2 3/4 in. heave. Although Fitzgerald faltered in the mile, Fred Howard came out of nowhere on the last lap to salvage fifth place for the varsity, and pole vaulter Tom Blodgett cleared 13 feet for a third-place tie.

The outstanding feature of the relays was Dave Brahms' sparkling 1:57 leg for the two-mile unit, which eventually finished fourth.

Meanwhile, in New York's Madison Square Garden, Freshman Ted Bailey impressed K. of C. Meet spectators with a third-place performance in the weight event.