Crimson Eighth in IC4As; Field Men Perform Well

The Harvard outdoor track team, led by coach Ed Stowell's field specialists, tied for eighth place with Manhatten and St. John's in last weekend's IC4As, held in Philadelphia.

Geoff Stiles was the sole Harvard competitor to rack up points in Saturday's events, placing a hairs-breadth third in the pole vault behind Bill Hartley of Rhode Island and Brad Turley of Maryland. All three had a top score of 15-8, but some of Stiles' earlier misses hurt him.

Outdoor track coach Bill McCurdy descscribed Stiles' near-missas "anitty-bitty proposition. The difference between first and third place amounted to the difference between a thumb and a forefinger," he added.

Maryland Wins

Maryland was the winner of the meet, followed by Villanova, Seton Hall, Northeastern, Pennsylvania, Army, and Fairleigh-Dickinson.

The unquestioned star of the meet was Northeastern sophomore Bruce Bickford, who outran Hillary Tuwei of Richmond University in the stretch of the 3000 meter steeplechase to set a meet record of 8:34.76. The old record was 8:41.0, set by Miguel Roche of Rutgers in 1975.

Other Crimson notables included Ed Ajootian, whose best hammer throw of the day on Friday sailed over the 190 mark to earn him a fourth place berth in that event, which was won by his old nemesis Bill Johnston of Northeastern. Ajootian bested Johnston on the final throw in last year's competition.

In the discus, Crimson hurler Joe Pellegrini powered a more than respectable 169-9 to place fifth in one of his best performances of the year. Meanwhile, javelin thrower Dave Kinney heaved his payload past the 230 mark for a third place behind Maryland and Yale.

Although the performance of the field men was striking, the running events suffered from a conspicuous lack of Crimson talent. Due to the various exigencies of injuries and academic ocnflicts, such Harvard top guns as Jeff Campbell, Todd Hooks, Paul Organ, and Gary Schmidt were absent from the meet. The lack of a Harvard sprint relay team was an unfortunate result.

Nevertheless, the team made the most of what it had, according to coach McCurdy. "These guys did very well," McCurdy said after the meet. "Everyone is capable of doing better--I know that's like saying you did great but you're a bum--but I'm satisfied," he added.

The team closed out its season this spring with a very satisfying 4-1 dual record. The sole loss came against the local powerhouse, Northeastern, but that was a close one. The team is looking forward to the Harvard-Yale vs. Oxford-Cambridge meet, which will be held later this month.