Quakers, Columbia Force Harriers to Their Knees

It's been one of those years for the Crimson harriers. One of those years, that is, that they'd just as soon forget. Yesterday they traveled to a tri-meet in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and emerged on the wrong end of 17-46 and 20-39 scores versus Penn and Columbia, respectively.

For openers, the Quakers managed to place eight of their runners among the first 11 finishers, which is like taking a 9-0 lead after the top of the first inning. And, to make matters unnecessarily difficult, only one Harvard runner was able to crack the top 15.

Positive Attitudes

Part of the Crimson's problem lies in the fact that for the second time this week, the harriers were unable to keep pace after a notoriously fast opening. "The leaders just flew at the start," coach Bill McCurdy said last night. Penn's Dave Merrick "went by the mile at 4:27, and that's not stopping and picking daisies."

Merrick's teammates, Bruce Fiori and Steve Sholtes, also left the daisy-picking to others, as they blazed around the course in 25.09, a pretty fair time for anyone not named Merrick. The latter crossed the finish line some 54 seconds before his teammates, and came within 16 of breaking the course record.

The fourth-place finisher was Harvard's freshman sensation Peter Fitzsimmons, who once again ran an outstanding race. "It was the first time that he had ever seen the course," McCurdy said, "and his time was 25.12. Few Harvard runners have ever done better. He has a remarkable ability to adjust to the pace, and today, he adjusted, recovered, and challenged. I think that he's entitled to the word precocious."

Fitzsimmons preceded Columbia's Paul Heck across the line, who in turn preceded Benjamin Franklin and the hordes of Quakers who turned this tri-meet into a blitzkrieg. Four additional Columbia runners also made an appearance at the finish line before the next Harvard runner, Jeff Campbell, arrived, and in so doing, guaranteed the Crimson's second double dip in four days.

Campbell placed 16th and was followed by sophomore Eddie Blades, who had "a fantastic time today," according to McCurdy. Equally encouraging was the performance of Will Brownsberger, an unknown until this week, who finished 21st.

Captain Bill Okerman placed immediately behind Brownsberger, thereby rounding out the Crimson scoring. And speaking of scoring, they never announced who won the daisy-picking contest.