Cross Country Outruns Hapless Brown; Shaw Leads Sweep With Record Time

"I think they proved they were superior to Brown" was cross country coach Bill McCurdy's description of his team's overwhelming 15-50 victory over Brown at Providence Friday.

McCurdy was too modest. Harvard swept nine runners across the finish line before the first Bruin in an impressive exhibition of front-running strength and backup depth.

Bewhiskered Royce Shaw bettered the Brown course record by nearly a half minute enroute to his fourth straight individual victory. The lanky junior moved away from his teammates in the last mile to cover the five-mile course in 24:14, proving his ability as one of the East's top all-around runners.

Shaw was trailed by surprising sophomore Tom Spengler. The Arlington native ran the best race of his career, going with the leaders from the outset and finishing a scant eight seconds behind the victor.

"Go on, damn it!"

Captain Doug Hardin survived a fall in the last mile to take third place. Hardin's tumble had his coach and teammates momentarily worried, but his shouts to "Go on, damn it!" and his quick recovery reassured them. Both Spengler and Hardin also broke the existing course record.

Behind them the parade continued. Keith Colburn continued his steady progress up the ladder, outlegging sophomore Howie Foye for the fourth position. McCurdy expressed particular pleasure with Foye's "best-ever" performance.

Jon Enscoe made a valiant attempt to out-kick Dave Pottetti and John Heyburn for sixth place, gaining 40 yards in the last quarter-mile, but he had to settle for eighth as his roommate Pottetti won the battle and Heyburn hung on for seventh. All of them were less than a minute behind Shaw.

Max Schweizer edged Brown captain Don Humphrey for ninth, and senior Pete Dennehy completed the rout by polishing off the other Bruins.

The freshmen harriers, handicapped by the absence of two top runners, edged out a 27-28 victory over the Brown frosh. Bob Seals helped fill the gap with his first victory of the season, breaking the course record set two years ago by Keith Colburn.

Andy Meltzoff kicked strongly to grab fourth place in a photo finish. Rich Barton, Alan Long, and Phil Lichtenstein finished sixth, seventh, and ninth respectively to nail down the victory.