Yesterday at Cornell: Booters Lose, 2-1... ...Harriers Win 28-28!

It seems Harvard has a history of running incredibly close races with Cornell. Everyone remembers last year's thriller in Franklin Park when two Crimson harriers outsprinted five Cornell speedsters at the finish to bring home a victory.

Well, this year, the meet was even closer. When all had crossed the finish line late Friday afternoon, the teams were tied, 28-28.

Ties in cross-country racing are a rarity. However, NCAA rules state that in such an instance, the fifth scorer for each team is eliminated, and the totals are then tabulated from the place of first four finishers for each team.

Read as it may, the ruling suited coach Bill McCurdy and his team just fine. The recount read 17-20 for Harvard, and the Crimson had won its second consecutive meet of the season.

In the words of coach McCurdy, the race was "unbelievably close. Eveyone was on each other's heels. Cornell first established dominance, but then we came fighting back. Then they came back--it was a real seesaw battle. Nobody was sure who was going to win."

Running his strongest race to date, junior Jeff Campbell finished ahead of the pack with an impressive 25:42 clocking. He was followed closely by freshman Peter Fitzsimmons (25:45), turning in yet another standout performance.

Third and fourth places went to Cornell's John Ritson (25:49) and Craig Holm (25:51), while Crimson captain Bill Okerman came back to capture fifth place for Harvard (15:58).

Sixth, seventh, and eighth places also belonged to Cornell (Washburn, Fitzsinger, and Buchholz), but Crimson harriers Stan Steinrafto, Jamie Kiggen, and will Brownsberger finished ninth, eleventh, and twelfth respectively to round out the scoring.

It took two hours for the Crimson to be credited with the victory. Conflicting rumors and statements concerning the tie forced Cornell administrators to do a bit of researching into NCAA ruling. Only after lengthy deliberation was the conflict finally resolved.

"It's unfortunate in a way," coach McCurdy said afterwards. "Neither team deserved to lose. To have the race decided on an obscure ruling is too bad."