Princeton Sweeps Heptagonals, Fitzsimmons Is All-Ivy Choice

Sporting a 3-7 record to date, Harvard's cross-country team has had its share of problems this season. But time and time again, Coach Bill McCurdy has succeeded in bringing out the best in his freshman performers, so perhaps this is a year of rebuilding.

Yesterday afternoon, the Crimson harriers traveled to Columbia's Van Cortland Park to compete in the annual Heptagonal Championship Meet. Expectations were moderate, and rightly so as Harvard finished seventh behind a host of running powerhouses. But somewhat surprising were the outstanding performances of the Crimson freshmen.

Freshman Peter Fitzsimmons finished in sixth place overall, first for Harvard, as he crossed the line in an impressive 25:27 clocking. In doing so, he became the only member of the team to earn All-Ivy status.

"He's run well for us all year, and today, he just got the recognition he deserved," Coach Bill McCurdy said. "He made All-Ivy today, and he's the first freshman to do so, in any sport, in a long while. It's the highlight of the day."

Not To Be Outdone

Fitzsimmon's performance did not outshadow the achievements of Will Brownsberger and Jamie Kiggen, two other first-year runners on the team. Brownsberger finished forty-first overall and third for Harvard in 26:37. "In the beginning of the season, Brownsberger was a virtual unknown," McCurdy explained, "but he's been improving with every race.

Kiggen was unable to complete the race. Midway through the run, he tripped and sprained an ankle. "It was an unfortunate break for us," McCurday lamented afterwards. "Jamie was running a stron race for us, third or fourth in our pack. He might have finished in good time."

The meet itself held no surprises. Potent Princeton, which demolished both Harvard and Yale in last week's tri-meet, whipped all competitors in a smooth display of strength and stamina. Placing all five of their runners in the top thirteen, they posted a remarkably low score of 40.

Distant Second

Army was a distant second (80), followed closely by Ivy powerhouse Dartmouth (83). Dartmouth ran its celebrated "tight pack" formation throughout the race as the Big Green top five finished 11th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 27th.

Pennsylvania (92), Army (93), and host Columbia (175) took fourth, fifth, and sixth places respectively before Harvard claimed a modest seventh (180). "Ideally, we might have finished a bit highter," Coach McCurdy said later.

"We were aiming for around sixth place, and we just missed it by five points. On the whole, I'm very pleased with our effort, considering the problems we have been having in the latter part of the season," he said.

Cornell (195), Yale (218), and Brown (251) rounded out the scoring in the top ten.

In individual competition, David Merrick of Pennsylvania crossed the tape far ahead of aayone (24:15.4), setting a new record for Heptagonal Championship competition. The previous mark (24:31) was set by Merrick himself in 1971, but the new mark still falls short of the course record (24:00.0). Curt Alitz of Army was second (24:47) followed by Princeton's Larry Trackenbery (25:04).

Other scorers for Harvard were Captain Bill Okerman, taking 36th place (26:32) and junior Jeff Campbell, claiming 42nd place (26:38). Sophomore Stein Rafto finished in 62nd place (27:29). The Crimson's final meet is the ICAAAA Championships to be held next week.