Freshman Harriers Expect Better Fortune in Future

Harvard's freshman cross country team can afford to be a bit more optimistic as it prepares for Friday afternoon's meet against Brown in Franklin Park.

The Yardlings lost twice last week, while chalking up the standard 50-15 win over Columbia. The first loss was to Northeastern, and the second to Penn, both excellent teams.

But the one-sided defeats seemed to reflect more than just the excellence of those two teams. There were unmistakable indications that Harvard had a mediocre team.

Yet things may not be as bad as they seemed to be. The Crimson's top runner, Rick Rojas, ran an exceptional race against Penn, finishing second behind Dennis Fikes in 15:29. Last fall Harvard's John Quirk had won the race with a time four seconds slower than Rojas's.

Team Depth

In addition, some depth is developing behind him. Jerry Hines ran a strong race Saturday while finishing behind a quartet of Penn runners, and Jerry Hadley finished 13 seconds after Hines.

Fred Linsk, who was drawn to Harvard by author and runner Erich Segal, finished 13th, but would have done better had he not fallen down. Joining this group of four is Mike Noble, who may be the all-important fifth man coach Pappy Hunt was hoping would develop. Noble was 16th.

Life is likely to be a bit happier for the Yardlings on Friday since Brown has lost to Yale, 15-50. And losing to Yale in cross country is like losing to Harvard in basketball.