Thinclads Fried on Southern Trip; Florida Wins in Pre-Season Contest

The Harvard track team employed a southern strategy last week and met with defeat at the hands of two representatives of the south. Louisiana State and the University of Florida. Florida won the meet with 81 points. LSU scored 78 while Harvard salvaged 21.

"Twenty-one points is not representative of what we got out of the trip." coach Ed Stowell said last night of the team's foray into the South. "The team practiced twice a day both before and after the meet." he said. "We're not making excuses," he said, "except that we were going down for practice."

In a show of solid southern strength, LSU and Florida took first place in every event.

Among the Harvard scorers were Bailey Reed and Chris Alvord in the 100-yard dash. Reed took third place with a time of 9.8 seconds, nipping Alvord who took third at 9.9.

Jon Enscoe took third place in a slow mile, running the distance in 4:13. "Everybody fiddled around in the mile until the end," said head coach Bill McCurdy. "Then there was a wild finish, and Enscoe found himself two steps out of first," he said.

Jeff Brokaw took second place in the three-mile. He was nipped by LSU's John Stewart who won in 13:59.6. Brokaw ran 14:01. Both McCurdy and Stowell said they were pleased with Brokaw's performance in the event which is seldom run.

"The trip gave us a pretty good idea of the problems we have," McCurdy said. "We're still in trouble in the pole vault. We've got three valuators on leaves of absence. We also have to plug up the long jump," he said.

McCurdy said he was also concerned about Dewey Hickman who was bothered by a leg injury and Tom Spengler who suffered a knee injury. Stowell said that these injuries, coupled with the absence of a number of other Crimson runners, accounted for the disappointing performance.

"In addition, this was LSU and Florida's fourth and fifth outdoor meet," he said. It was Harvard's first outdoor performance. "We could have made it a lot closer if it had been later in the season," Stowell said. "We'll have a much better time Saturday when we beat Princeton."

The Crimson faces the Tigers, who are the Big Three's southern-most component, this Saturday at the Bubble.

The warm climate had a positive affect on a number of Crimson runners. Rick Melvoin ran his best time in the 440 at 48.9 seconds. Among other Harvard scorers were Fred Lang, who threw the discus 140'5" for fourth place, and Joe Naughton, who took 3rd in the shot put with 51'6 3/4".