Cross Country Harriers Challenge Unbeaten Cornell in Ithaca Today

The varsity cross-country team will be seeking its 30th consecutive dual meet victory today when it races against Cornell in Ithaca.

The Big Red has won its only two meets, downing Syracuse and Colgate, and hopes to earn its first winning record in six seasons. Paced by two sophomores, Cornell realizes that Harvard is its toughest opponent this fall.

The two sophomores, Phil Ritson and Don Alexander, have finished first and second in both meets and should be the toughest one-two punch Harvard has faced thus far. Both easily beat the course record on the Syracuse course, and Ritson was only 12 seconds off the Cornell course record set two years ago by Harvard's Jim Baker.

Cornell's problem is its lack of depth. The next few runners are not nearly as good as Ritson and Alexander. Captain Bruce Earle, Ralph Adams, Doug Winn, and Tom Baker have done well enough thus far to help Cornell win, but will probably have considerably more trouble against the Crimson.

The Big Red has been running without last year's top runner, Jon Anderson, but today Anderson is expected to run. He has been suffering from a knee injury, and it is not known how well he can perform..

Harvard Injuries

As usual, Harvard has some injuries to worry about. Coach Bill McCurdy is suffering from the flu and may not make the trip. Bob Seals, who has been bothered by knee and hip troubles, has been unable to run the last few days because of a calf injury and may not compete today.

Captain Keith Colburn is experiencing pain in his right thigh. He did not work out Wednesday and only jogged on Thursday, but he should be able to run Saturday even if he's not at his best.

One compensating factor is the return of Dave Pottetti, who has had various ailments and has missed a lot of practices recently. In Thursday's workout on the track, Pottetti ran well behind Tom Spengler and John Heyburn, who were the day's top performers.

Spengler, Heyburn, and sophomore Mike Koerner are all healthy and running well. Another reason for optimism is the comeback of Roy Shaw, who won the meet against Brown last weekend. "Shaw's effort against Brown makes us a strong squad," McCurdy said earlier this week.

Any of several people could win today but Alexander and Ritson are slight favorites. But even if they finish on top, there will probably be a string of Crimson harriers right behind to win the meet. Cornell's secondary runners will have to do exceptionally well to break up this group.

The Harvard freshmen should not have any trouble in beating the Big Red. Cornell has only one excellent runner- Tim Cahill. Behind him there is little support.

The Crimson, on the other hand, has a solid core of top runners, four of whom can probably outrun Cahill. John Quirk has won every meet so far, and despite a slight muscle pull in his calf, he may win again today. Marshall Jones, Tom New, and George Barker should finish right behind him.