Harriers Topple the Big Red In Muddy, Sliding Finish

In the pouring rain, gusty winds and sub-45 degree temperatures, the Harvard men's cross country team literally slid to a muddy victory over Cornell, scoring a low 24 to the Big Red's 31. Saturday in Roxbury's Franklin Park.

The triumph ups the harriers' record to 4-1 overall, 4-0 in Ivy competition.

Cornell's Grant Whitney placed first on the 3.1-mile course, and the entire competition came down to the finish of Harvard's third and fourth runners relative to those of Cornell.

The harriers whose top five runners tight pack running formation, and often close, sliding finishes have gained them the nickname "Rough Riders" ran close together, keeping in striking range. Junior Paul McNaulty scored second for Harvard's squad, and Peter Jeilly captured fourth, leaving seniors Eric Schuler and Felix Rippy to gain fifth and sixth places.

"Coach [1 rank] Haggerty had let us know during the course of the race that in order to win we needed to pass Cornell's third and fourth men." Rippy said, some time after the race. "So we made out move in the finishing chute."

Schuler and Rippy sprinted around the Big Red's fourth man, leaving him to watch then muddy spikes. A few strides in front of the finish line, they kicked past Cornell's third man. When Rippy stopped after crossing the finish line. Cornell's man crashed into his back, unable to stop in the slippery letter. The upended Rippy became the bottom layer of a runner pile-up at the muddy finish line.

The unusual finish was not wholly unfamiliar to Rippy and the Rough Riders. We've had some messy finishes before, he said. "But this was easily the worst in the worst conditions possible."

Not only was the finish had the race began with what Schuler termed the worst starting conditions for a course I've ever seen. The only good thing was that some of the people who live in the area and usually throw picket us during the race were kept inside by the weather."

THE NOTEBOOK In the harriers four races they've had a new first summer in three of the meets, showing team depth and the ability among the first five McNaulty, Rippy Schuler, and Jeilly are passed by freshmen Paul Campers to form the tight pack of Rough Riders.