Track Team Wins Big 3

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 18--The Harvard track team won its sixth straight Big Three Meet here today, edging Yale, 58-51. Princeton, which finished with 28 points, was never in the running.

Yale won the first places--seven of 13--but Harvard, with just four firsts, won the meet. It was the Crimson's depth that carried the day against the strongest Eli track squad in years. Harvard took seven third places to Yale's two, and nine fourth places to Yale's none.

The meet was close, and that is strange for track meets. It was the first Crimson contest of the year to go down to the last event--the two-mile relay. But even so, coach Bill McCurdy wasn't worried. He has one of the best relay squads in the country, and they responded well. Jeff Huvelle steamed home with a quarter-lap lead and knocked seven seconds off the old record with a time of 7:41.2.

First Half

The first half of the meet was especially tight. The Elis took firsts in four of the first five events, mostly field events, and Harvard had just a two-point lead going into the 60-yard dash. Wayne Andersen, who has hit his peak early this season, zipped to a victory over Rich Robinson of Yale. Harvard's Bill Jewett was third and Andy Cahners, who also placed in the hurdles, was fourth.

That win was a turning point. The seven-point bulge was narrowed to five when Steve Bittner--who had won the mile an hour before in 4:08.9--upset Princeton's Werner Endrikat to take the 1000. Harvard again took third and fourth with Trey Burns and Tom Callahan.

Things were looking dark until Jim Baker iced the meet by capturing the two-mile run. Baker had been running along in second place for 15 laps, right on the shoulder of Yale's Frank Shorter. And then Baker kicked. No one had expected anything like that from the steady Englishman--a kick.

Baker Kick

Baker kicked right past Shorter and kept on going. He turned his head to look back in the stretch and found there was no one anywhere near him. Baker snapped the tape in 9:08.8, lopping more than 14 seconds off the old meet record.

Weight-thrower Ron Wilson took Harvard's other first place. He had been heaving fantastically in practice. One went 63 ft. But in the meet all he could manage was 56 ft. 7 1/2 in., which still outclassed everyone on the floor.

Yale's Calvin Hill--who spends part of the year as a football star--broke the meet broad jump record with a leap of 24 ft. 6 3/4 in. Hill is amazing to watch. He starts down the runway slowly, weaving from side to side, but when he gets two or three strides from the mark, he explodes, flailing through the air and landing in a cloud of sawdust.