Villanova Wins IC4A's; Harriers Finish 13th

In a see-saw race which saw five runners finish within five seconds of each other, Villanova won the IC4A cross country championship yesterday for the tenth year in a row.

Running in a cold rain at New York's Van Cortland Park, the Wildcats bested Penn, their nearest competitor, 45-54.

Duke took fourth place with 81 points followed by Penn State with 104, William and Mary with 236, Cornell with 239 and Manhattan with 244. After that, team scores rose sharply.

Harvard placed 13th in the race. Harvard's leading runner, Mike Koerner, finished 54th.

Wheeler Wheels It

The individual winner yesterday was Duke's Bob Wheeler. He ran the five-mile course in 24:27. Right behind Wheeler were Villanova's Davey Wright and Marty Liquori at 24:29 and 24:30, and Greg Fredericks of Penn State at 24:32.

The only real surprise in the race was Penn State's disappointing performance. The Nittany Lions had been pegged for a second or third place finish.

The leaders hit the first mile mark at 4:30 and stuck together for the entire race.

Going into Cemetery Hill, which comes a little more than four miles in the race. Villanova's Don Walsh (who finished eighth) had the lead, followed by Fredericks, Wright, Wheeler and Liquori.

Going Away

Halfway up the hill, Fredericks took the lead, but by the time the runners reached the bottom, Wright had taken over. Coming down the last straightaway. Wheeler sprinted past Wright and won going away.

"I've never seen so close a race," Harvard's coach Bill McCurdy said last night. But McCurdy said he was not surprised with Harvard's performance.

Villanova's John artnett took fifth place in 24:42 followed by Penn's Dennis Fikes and Dave Meerick who tied for sixth in 24:52.