Navy, Army Teams Favored in Heps Today; Walt Hewlett May Take Individual Title

Navy or Army will win the Heptagonal cross-country meet in New York today, but Walt Hewlett has a chance to capture the individual title and give Harvard a big slice of the glory.

Teamwise the Crimson should finish third or fourth, behind the two service teams and possibly behind Brown. Harvard's dim hope for first place died when John Ogden's cold turned out to be more serious and Keith Chiappa and the soccer team decided that, on the weekend of the Princeton game, soccer and cross-country don't mix.

Beating Army and Navy would have been a tough job anyway. Both teams have posted victories over Providence College, a 25-30 winner over Harvard at full strength.

The Cadets and Midshipmen are both 7-1 on the season, with losses to Syracuse and Georgetown respectively. On the basis of the Providence scores, Navy appears a little stronger, but that statistical margin is far too small to give the Midshipmen the undisputed role of favorite in today's meet.

Navy has an unusually balanced squad and could conceivably place three runners in the top ten this afternoon. The squad's standout is Greg Williams, Academy record-holder on the Annapolis course, but close on his heels in every race this fall has been sophomore John Lawlor.

The third Midshipmen with a crack at the front ten is senior Bob Sermier, who has improved by leaps and bounds after a slow start this season. Captain Forrest Horton provides a solid fourth runner for Navy, but the Midshipmen's fifth man, so important in the Heps, could be way back in the pack.

Army's team doesn't have the balance of the Annapolis squad, but it does have Jim Warner. Warner is that exceptional second year man who really deserves the too-often used "sophomore sensation" tag. He has broken course records almost every time he has put on his cross-country shoes, and, in the Cadets' loss to Syracuse, finished an incredible 0:30 ahead of the second-place runner.

The best of the rest for Army are juniors Fred Barnes and Steve Berry. Behind these two the order is blurred, and this could work to the Cadets' disadvantage.

So many different West Point runners have filled up the fourth and fifth slots in different meets this year that, with Heptagonal rules allowing only seven entrants per team, the Army coach will be hard pressed to decide which of his inconsistent men would best aid the Cadet cause today. Through no fault of his own, he may make some wrong choices.

Inexperience and the unusually flat five-mile Cortlandt Park course may also hurt Army. The young Cadets have been running up and down steep hills all fall at West Point and may have trouble adjusting to what may be a speed race today.

The landscape will also hurt Harvard in its duel with Brown for third place. No Crimson runner is particularly noted for his speed, and that could hurt the team's chances of reversing its one-point loss to the Bruins in October.

Crimson Team Improved

But with five straight victories since that defeat, the Crimson would seem to be an improved team. And the squad will definitely be up to beat Brown today. Without Chiappa and Ogden, the first five Crimson finishers are likely to be Hewlett, Captain Bill Crain, Dave Allen, Roger Smith, and Jon Chaffee.

Crain finished an impressive ninth last year. Allen placed 25th and Hewlett was a disappointing 26th.

Walt's attempt to stone for that showing should provide the main interest for Crimson fans today. Army's Warner has been billed as his chief competition for first place with the three Navy men and Brown's Vic Boog the other possibilities.

Like Warner, Hewlett will suffer from the landscape of the course. Walt's forte is endurance, and that quality is most important when a runner is faced with steep uphill grades. Also, Walt will be carrying the yoke of eight-race winning streak. All the other runners have lost at least once this year.

But Hewlett has said he can win today, and that may be the most important thing. If he can go out there repeating the famous words of the Little Engine That Could--"I think I can, I think I can"--he should give his team a victory to brag about.