IC4A Surprise: Joe Pellegrini

Harvard track stars Ed Ajootian and Mel Embree may have garnered all the publicity over the weekend when they won the hammer throw and the high jump respectively at the IC4A Championships in Philadelphia, but the real news for Harvard was freshman Joe Pellegrini's fifth place finish in the discus event.

Pelligrini threw the discus 161 ft. 11 in. on his first attempt in the event's final round to snag fifth place. John Post of C.W. Post won with a throw of 171 ft. 3 in.

"Joe's throw was the surprise of the meet for us," assistant track coach Ed Stowell said yesterday. "It was five feet better than his previous best."

Pellegrini, who missed the Harvard freshman record by seven inches, came out of nowhere to place in the meet. Although he has scored in dual meets all season, he did not place in either the Greater Boston College or Heptagonal championships held earlier this month.

But Saturday he avenged his defeats, beating all ten of the throwers who had beaten him at the earlier championships.

"No one expected me to place," Pellegrini said yesterday. "But I've been hitting 170 feet in practice for the last two weeks."