...Thinclads Fall Just Short in Close Heps Meet

The tides of fortune have been generous to Harvard's track team this year, as the squad pulled out last-event wins over Northeastern and Army and put it all together last week against Princeton. The tide turned, though, in Saturday's Heptagonal meet at Cornell, as the Crimson could manage only a second-place tie behind Penn's winning performance.

The Quakers finished with 39 points, Harvard and Princeton each tallied 36, Navy scored 33 1/2, far ahead of the rest of the ten-team field. "The four teams were at each other's necks all day," coach Bill McCurdy said yesterday. "It was a very, very close meet."

Scoring for the meet went on a 6-4-3-2-1 basis, and Harvard could have won the meet with only a point or two in a couple of crucial situations. The outcome may well have been different for the Crimson with the services of injured sprinter Todd Hooks.

On the other hand, however, Harvard came up with several surprising performances--Geoff Stiles' second-place finish in the pole vault, Stever Brown's fifth in the 1000, and the mile relay team's second. "The breaks balance out," McCurdy said.

Ed Ajootian and Dan Jiggetts gave the Crimson an early lead, placing 1-2 in the 35-1b. weight throw. Ajootian won with a 61-ft. 11 1/4-in. toss.

Mel Embree leaped 7 ft. 1/2 in. to win the high jump, breaking his own meet record in the process. Dan Sullivan picked up third in the event for the Crimson with a 6-ft. 8-in. vault.

Ahmed Kayali leaped 47 ft. 3 3/4 in. to nab fifth in the triple jump, and Stiles crossed the bar at 14 ft. 8 in. in the pole vault for a personal best and a second-place finish.

Harvard did not dominate the field events, though. Kevin McCafferty managed only a fifth in the shotput, and Hunt Block fouled in each of his long jump attempts.

In the running events, the Crimson failed to pick up any points in the mile, the two mile, or either of the two dashes, but there were some strong performances, too.

Joel Peters finished fourth in a blistering 600, Jim Springate and Brown placed fourth and fifth in the 1000, and the relays nailed down respectable second and fourth place finishes.

The meet represented the first loss in any meet for Harvard this season, but the competition was the toughest of the year, also. "I came away pleased with the team's performance," McCurdy concluded.