Harriers Finish Second As Hamlin Takes Heps

Ed Hamlin, Harvard's cross country captain, finished first in Friday's Heptagonal championships in New York. Crimson runners Ed Meehan and Bill Crain placed fourth and sixth respectively. Navy's best runner finished tenth. But Harvard took second place in the meet; Navy won.

By finishing with seven men between tenth and 37th places, Navy was able to edge out the Crimson, whose fourth and fifth runners could do no better than 22nd and 43rd, Navy had 79 points to Harvard's 85. Princeton, the only team to beat the Crimson during the regular season, finished third with 89 points.

Hamlin a Surprise

Two weeks ago it seemed unlikely that Hamlin would win any more races this season. Hampered by an injured knee, he was considered the No. 3 man on the team. However, he broke a track record to finish first at the Big Three meet, on Nov 3, defeating Yale's supposedly unbeatable Bobby Mack. "In view of that victory," said Coach Bill McCurdy, "we thought he might have a chance to take it all again."

Apparently Mack also felt that Hamlin had a good chance for victory. He felt that in order to beat the Crimson captain, he would have to take the lead from the start and try to hold it for the whole race.

Hamlin decided to let Mack set the pace for the first half of the race. He was gambling that Mack would not have the strength to keep up his early speed, and the gamble paid off when Mack faded at the third mile. Hamlin made his move at that point, took over first place, and widened his lead to thirty yards by the time he reached the finish line with a time of 26:02.6. Yale's "Iron Man" dropped to seventh place.

This year's harriers have fared much better than Hamlin or McCurdy expected. At the beginning of the season the team seemed too inexperienced to have better than a mediocre season. However, a number of sophomores, led by Crain, ran consistently well, giving the Crimson one of its best records in years. With the sophomores, and junior star, Ed Meehan, returning, chances are good for another excellent record next year.

For Hamlin, Meehan, and Crain this season is not yet over. The "Big Three" will journey to New York next week to compete in the IC4A meet. Hamlin said that if Harvard had won the Heptagonal meet, McCurdy probably would have sent the whole team to the IC4A grind.