Manhattan Takes IC4A Title; Harvard Places Dismal Ninth

There are some days when it just does not pay to get out of bed. Yesterday was one of those days for the Harvard harriers as they finished a dismal ninth in the Intercollegiate Association of Amature Athletes of America (IC4A) cross country meet in New York.

Manhattan repeated as the meet champions with a solid 87-164 margin over second-place Massachusetts. Ivy League champion Pennsylvania was edged into third with 165 points and Heptagonals runner-up Navy finished fourth.

Villanova, perennial champions, having taken six of the last eight titles, dropped to fifth place.

Princeton, a team Harvard defeated last week, finished sixth, and Providence, which has lost twice to the Crimson this year, placed seventh. Harvard finished with 345 points.

The Lowly First

Crimson captain Ric Rojas was the first Harvard finisher, but he placed a lowly 42nd overall. His time of 25:23 is almost a full minute off of his best time of 24:30 on the hilly Van Cortland Park course.

Senior Andy Campbell crossed the line second for the Crimson in 51st place and Karl Tsigdinos was third in 77th position. Other Harvard scorers were Dirk Skinner at 85th and junior Jim Keefe at 104th.

John Harnett, an Irish transplant to Villanova, blazed to the individual championship in the record time of 24:00, which eclipsed the old record by three seconds. Hartnett placed third in last year's meet.

The Freshman Sensation

Heptagonals champion Dave Merrick garnered the second spot in an impressive 24:07 run. Manhattan harriers Peter Squires and freshman sensation Matt Sentrowitz took the next two places on their home course. Sentrowitz's time of 24:21 is a new freshman record on the demanding Van Cortland course.

All-Ivy runners Denis Fikes of Penn and Ron Vander Kraats of Princeton took sixth and seventh in 24:30 and 24:31 respectively.

In the 1972 version of the IC4As, Rojas finished sixth overall, and Harvard placed seventh in another disappointing performance.