A Solid Year for Harvard Sports

(Crimson Sports Editor Robert W. Gerlach takes a look at the prospect for Harvard sports in 1971, beginning with soccer, in the article which follows, A close-up examination of the Crimson football fortunes will appear in Wednesday's Crimson.)

SOCCER - Coach Bruce Munro's squad probably has the greatest potential of any of the fall teams. Munro also will face the greatest challenge of any of the Fall coaches, for the soccer team's talents could lead to widespread glee or frustration.

Coming off a perfect record and a close elimination in the 1969 NCAA national semifinals, last year's squad was torn by disappointments. The squad was undefeated once again, but it rarely overwhelmed opponents with high calibre soccer, and an annoying season was ended abruptly with a disappointing loss in the NCAA quarterfinals.

Throughout the winter and spring accusations and blame were tossed between coach and players and the dispute went all the way to the Faculty Committee on Athletics. The conflict concluded with a new assistant coach and a new awareness on the part of all parties of the seriousness and depth of dissatisfaction.

Both coach and players will be much more sensitive this fall--hopefully more sensitive in an understanding rather than a resentful vein.

On the field, Harvard has more talent than any other Eastern team. Returning are All-American candidates in goalie Shep Messing, fullback Chris Wilmot, and forwards Charlie Thomas and Phil Kydes. The big names missing are top scorer Sol Gomez and goalie Bill Meyers, but with Messing in the net and record-setting freshman Felix Adedeji, Gomez and Meyers will not be missed for long.

Munro's main concern will be filling gaps on the wings of the halfback and fullback lines. Sophomores Rick Scott and Emmanuel Ekama had outstanding first years on the varsity defense and Munro will need more help from the new sophomores.

Strategically, Munro will have to develop a game plan that can inspire the players. Last season's 4-4-2 was a slow, cautious attack that did not capture the fire of the team and created nerve-wracking one-goal victories. Especially with the weaker defense this fall, the Crimson will need to score more.

The Ivy League title seems well within reach, but the players have become accustomed to more than regional honors. The national title may be beyond the talents of the team. In any case, Munro will be challenged to meet the squad's desire to be more than just a good New England team.

CROSS COUNTRY--After two consecutive undefeated seasons, the bubble burst for coach Bill McCurdy and his long-distance runners last season. Injuries and bad luck followed a squad that McCurdy felt had the potential to be his best ever--which is saying quite a bit for a man who carries winning percentage of over .700 through 20 seasons as head coach.

Gone from last year's team are four top seniors, including Jon Enscoe, Dave Pottetti and Tom Spengler, but the harriers should be well-balanced again this season. Seniors Mike Koerner and Bob Seals are joined by a flock of sophomores, many of whom were injured during their first varsity season in 1970-71. The strength of that now-junior contingent is shown by their unbeaten freshman record in 1969 and several strong performances last year.

McCurdy's dual meet winning streak of 35 victories, which extended over five years, came to an end last fall, but McCurdy is never down for long and he is counting on this year's team to make a strong showing. If everything falls into place, the 1971 season could mark the beginning of another long winning streak.

BASKETBALL--Last winter was the year of the sophomores, and although some players had hoped for more than second place in the Ivy League, coach Bob Harrison's squad compiled the best Crimson record since 1957 and the best finish ever in the Ivy League.

Back from last season's supersophs are forwards Floyd Lewis. James Brown and Marshall Sanders and guard Gene Wilkenson. Each of these players had the potential to break open an Ivy League game single-handedly last year. Unfortunately, that was the team's main problem. While the five starters were fine shooters and players at their position, as a coordinated team the Crimson resembled strangers. Harvard was continually unable to set up and often forced into bad shots.

With playmaker Dale Dover gone, the problem is greatly increased. And the new talent coming from the freshman team aggravates the challenge. Forward Tony Jenkins set a Yardling scoring record last winter and single-handedly carried an otherwise mediocre freshman squad. Transfer student Jim Fitzsimmons promises to be a top scorer after starring at Duke for one semester. But again, Fitzsimmons is the hot outside shooter rather than the playmaker.

The Crimson will probably score more points and win more games this winter than any previous squad (although that doesn't say too much because of the history of pathetic teams). The squad is extremely tall, fast, and talented.

But Penn proved its superior training in its humiliation of Harvard in the Palestra last spring, and Dartmouth and Princeton also have several outstanding sophomore shooters. If Harvard hopes for more than scoring records, it will have to improve its coordinated attack. In any case, the Crimson will be near the very top of the league and will play an exciting, fast-paced game. It could go even further.

FENCING--Last season was to be Harvard's first Ivy League fencing title. Two All-Americans, sabre Larry Cetrulo and foil Tom Keller, were to combine with greater depth to bring the Crimson national attention.

However, there was a catch--the fencing team choked. It not only lost to top teams like Columbia and NYU, it came from behind to miraculously lose close matches to Princeton and Penn and fall into the Ivy second division. Cetrulo and Keller had good seasons, but the team depth never materialized. This winter the Crimson will not only lack talented depth, it has also lost Cetrulo and Keller.

Although the Ivy title seems a distant possibility. Harvard proved last year that no team can rely on two or three unbeatable leaders. Coach Edo Marion has created a devoted following at the IAB, and perhaps his instruction will build a balanced squad that, while missing an attention-attracting star, will bring some surprising upsets.

HOCKEY--You would expect a lot from a team that won the ECAC championship and entered the NCAA semifinals. Yet, the Crimson will be a virtual unknown quantity when the pucks start flying.

Coach Bill Cleary greets a squad that finished well behind B.U., Clarkson, and Cornell in the regular season and managed to lose very easily to Vermont and Brown. Harvard was far from number one in the East last winter even though it won the ECAC tournament.

Graduation took a heavy toll from Harvard. Gone are goalie Bruce Durno, a starter for three years, and the forward line of Joe Cavanagh, Dan DeMichele, and Steve Owen, a line that led the Crimson in scoring for three years. Also gone is All-American, all-everything Cavanagh's presence on the power play and penalty-killing. For Cavanagh was also the backbone of the defense as well as the offense.

However, Cleary does not start with a dearth of talent. The Crimson defense was held together by sophomores last year and they will be back with a year of experience. Also, the Crimson sophomore line--centered by Bob McNamama--led the Crimson attack throughout the ECAC and NCAA tournaments.

Cleary himself is a big unknown factor. The Crimson was plagued by lackluster, uninspired play last winter. If Cleary can fire up the team this year, more consistent results could follow and an Ivy League title is a possibility.

Harvard has the talent to remain one of the top five or six teams in the East. Whether it has the talent to defend the ECAC title is less probable.

SQUASH--Last spring was the Crimson's dream year. Having lost three of its top four players, Harvard's sophomores came through to whitewash all their opponents, demolish top contender Penn, and clinch the national team title once again.

The backbone of that team was the bottom of the order. Underclassmen Alan Quasha, Andy Wiegand, Dan Gordon, Neil Vosters and Lowell Pratt assured the Crimson of five points every time it played. Add to that seniors Ed Atwood and Jaime Gonzalez at three and four and the Crimson totally dominated the "B" and "C" division competition at the National Championships.

With seven of its starting nine (actually 10 of its top 12) and two promising freshmen returning, coach Jack Barnaby's team ranks as the squad to beat this winter.

Two problems face the Crimson. First, Harvard lacks a big name number one man to face the top players at Penn and Williams. Junior Peter Briggs and Captain Dave Fish did far better than expected, winning every match except one. But at the National Championship, Harvard lost the six-man title because it could not win at the top amongst the number one players. Fish and Briggs will need to improve to challenge defending champion Palmer Page of Penn.

Harvard will also need to move several players up the ladder to replace Atwood and Gonzalez at three and four. Quasha and Gordon had such an easy time in the lower ranks that they should be able to meet greater competition. Wiegand, who never reached his full potential last year, may pass them both.

For years Harvard has been the team to beat, and it wasn't beaten. Last year was the year to beat Harvard, and it wasn't beaten. The 1971-72 squad is extremely strong, although not as strong as it could be or has been in the past. In any case, you won't find anyone this side of Philadelphia betting against Harvard for the national title.

WRESTLING--Coming off its finest season ever, Harvard's varsity wrestling team can only expect better results. Ten victories last winter, a record, put the Crimson in second place in the Ivy League, another record.

The team's top wrestler, Richie Starr, advanced to the semifinal round of the NCAA tourney after last year's season, and he will return as a junior to anchor the squad.

The Crimson's lone weak spot last year was in the lower weights. Frequently, Harvard rallied from 10 or 15-point deficits to win. This year, Yardling Dan Blakinger should be a strong candidate for All-Ivy at 118 lbs. With him, Harvard could go all the way to the Ivy title. Top competition will once again come from Princeton, Yale and Penn, but this squad is much more experienced and better balanced than the second-division Crimson squad of years past.

SWIMMING-A new coach and a new outlook could spell the advent of widespread changes in Harvard swimming this year. The new coach, Don Gambril, is accustomed to national prominence and is a nominee for the 1972 Olympic coaching job. He is a demanding coach and a great recruiter. Last spring, he was able to convince 9 of 11 top swimmers admitted to the Class of 1975 that Harvard was the only place to be.

But while Gambril's presence may attract more top swimmers, it could take its toll on Harvard veterans who aren't willing to make the sacrifice Gambril intends to demand. He says he will be "very disappointed if at time Harvard can't rank in the top ten in the nation." In view of Gambril's record, it won't be long before disappointment at Harvard is a thing of the past.

HEAVY CREW--What was once a Harvard challenge match is now a wide open battle. Back in 1968 Harvard was the top American crew and took the eyes of Cambridge to the Olympics. Hundreds of Harvard freshmen watched films of the Crimson crew sweeping the competition. A dynasty appeared in the making.

All that has changed now. For two years Penn and Harvard battled nose-to-nose, and both years Harvard had the last punch by winning at the Easterns. But last spring an upstart Navy crew embarrassed both Ivy teams by crushing the competition. The days of dynasties were over, and the heavies are competitive again. With strong teams such as Brown and Northeastern and Rutgers threatening to upset the old rulers. Harvard will be fighting to win each race this spring.

Gone from the crew are annual names like Hobbs and Tiffany. Probably also gone is the philosophy that Harvard must not only win but win everything by a large margin. Crew is anybody's guess once again.

LIGHT CREW--Did I say gone are the dynasties? Steve Gladstone's light crews, nicknamed the "superboats," won everything in sight last spring. Not only varsity, but JV and freshman boats were far superior to anything on the water.

The lights were so devastating against the opposition that success was judged by how many lengths of victory. When the Easterns came around, the lights were requesting races with heavy crews just to make the challenge interesting. The heavies were too scared to accept the challenge.

Another season of "superboat" is not only unlikely, it may be physically impossible. In any case, Gladstone has built a reputation like Barnaby's squash record and no one will bet against Harvard's light crew until they lose.

BASEBALL--Like several other squads (Harvard had the leading win percentage in the Ivy League last year), Harvard's baseball squad will be faced with a tough act to follow. The Crimson not only won the Greater Boston League title, the Eastern League title, 26 games, and the NCAA District I crown, it played a professional brand of ball that won praise and respect in all aspects of the game. Sound pitching, fielding, hitting, running, and strategy created more than a successful squad. It produced a team that truly deserved to rank with the best in the nation at the Omaha World Series.

Coach Loyal Park will have to do a lot of digging to replace the loss through graduation. Actually Harvard only lost three starters, but the quality of those men will be hard to match.

First, the Crimson lost its three top pitchers. Bill Kelly (drafted by the Cardinals), Phil Collins and J.C. Nickens, won 19 of the Crimson's games, and Nickens and Kelly were the squad's top relief pitchers. Juniors Roz Brayton, a southpaw, and Sandy Weissant will have to carry the brunt of the pitching duties. Neither was a consistent winner last spring but both had strong performances during the season.

Although the Crimson is returning five of its top hitters, Park will need to find someone who can hit the long ball. Seniors Pete Varney and Dan DeMichele were extremely dangerous not just because of their 400 batting averages but because they meant a possible run or two every time they stepped to the plate. Without them, Harvard lacks a player who with one swing of the bat can rub out a three-run deficit.

The Crimson's strong point is its field. Outfielders Vince McGugan, Art Serrano and Mike Thomas will start their third full-time season in the field, and reserve fielders Tim Bilodeau and Toby Harvey have had plenty of playing time and should easily fill in at first and catcher.

Park will have the nucleus of a solid hitting club (with a .300 hitter at number eight in Serrano) and a strong fielding club that will prevent careless runs. The big question in the Crimson's plans is its meager pitching staff. Of course, pitching was the big mystery last spring also and the hurlers turned out to be the best in the Eastern League.

Harvard could challenge any single team in the League this spring, but the League is so balanced that the Crimson will need at least three consistent pitchers every weekend. This squad may not be equal to last year's stars, but it could squeak through a close multi-team race and successfully defend its league title.

GOLF--The gold team was rotten last year. There's no denying it. It won the small matches, but when it needed a top showing to win, it usually played its worst. The team never approached its 11-3 record of 1970.

The Crimson usually had a different leader every week. Some would call that teamwork or rising to the occasion. More precisely, it was inconsistency.