Friars, Minutemen Obliterate Crimson

The sun was shining brightly throughout most of New England yesterday afternoon, but at Franklin Field there were nothing but last week's clouds for the Harvard cross-country team. The harriers placed a distant third in a tri-meet with two giants of the running world, Providence and UMass, the first and second-place finishers, respectively.

"I've got news for the weather bureau," Coach Bill McCurdy said yesterday, "a hurricane struck in a localized area." Apparently, it only affected those who wore Crimson jerseys, for of the first seventeen runners to cross the finish line, sixteen were either Friars or Minutemen.

The initial three, in fact, not only came from Providence, but they proved their team loyalty by crossing the line in unison, hands clasped together, in a manner which conjured up images of the Denver Broncos' defensive huddles.

Crimson Shows Up

In so doing, Mike O'Shea--who holds the course record--John Treacy, and Stetson Arnold clinched first place for the Friars. UMass John McGrail took fourth, before Harvard's freshman Peter Fitzsimmons served evidence that yes, the Crimson had remembered to show up for the meet.

After Fitzsimmons, however, Crimson runners were rather conspicuous by their absence, and not until Eddie Blades crossed the line, the 18th runner to do so, did another one appear. Following the somewhat surprising Blades, Jeff Campbell finished 19th, Will Brownsberger 22nd, and Chris Bickerton 23rd.

For most of the Harvard runners, though, yesterday's race was one which had best be forgotten. What happened, quite simply, was that, in the words of McCurdy, "they blew us out with a fast, early pace, and we're just not ready to run that hard that early. Fitzsimmons looked really good, but everything else went in the other direction."

Fitzsimmons fell behind the pack after the first mile, from which point he staged a furious charge which enabled him to pass all but four of the leaders. The remainder of the Crimson was not as fortunate.

Rigor Mortis

"Campbell and [Captain Bill] Okerman met the early challenge really well," McCurdy said. "At the mile, though, with the team race already out of hand, Campbell could go no further, and toiled the rest of the way. Okerman, who is staging a deadly war with rigor mortis, dropped out after two miles."

As the race progressed, Stein Rafto and Brian Dunn joined Okerman on the sidelines, and a foot injury forced Brian Finn to hobble to the finnish line. And, when all was said and done, the final scores showed Harvard to be on the losing ends of 17-46 and 18-44 verdicts to Providence and UMass, respectively.

On Tuesday, McCurdy had suggested that he might use some Irish terrorists to help combat the Irish-laden Friars. By last night, he was wishing that he had. "We needed a whole flock of them," McCurdy said. "As a matter of fact, though, yesterday it felt like we were right in the middle of a rebellion."