Henry, Sheehan Lead Thinclads

There are dramatic returns and there are dramatic returns.

And then there are the performances of senior Mark Henry and junior Cliff Sheehan, who made their first appearances on the Harvard track in over a year in Saturday's 84-52 victory over Boston College.

Both smashed Crimson records and qualified for the NCAA meet in March--Henry in the triple jump and Sheehan in the 3000-meter run.

These two performances, combined with a strong effort by the entire Harvard men's indoor track team, gave the squad the victory in its home opener.

For the women, however, the homecoming wasn't quite as sweet, as they fell to the Eagles, 58-1/2-41, 1/2.

The story of the afternoon, though, was Henry and Sheehan.

Neither had competed last season--Henry was off all last year, while Sheehan took a leave in the spring to train for the Olympics--but it was clear last week when they returned to action against Army that during their time away they hadn't lost a thing.

Henry began his record-breaking afternoon with a convincing win in the long jump, leaping 23-ft., 9-1-2, in., to beat Eagle Robert Davis by three inches and qualify for the IC4A meet.

However, it wasn't until his second attempt in the triple jump that Henry began to realize he could have an outstanding afternoon.

"My first jump felt really bad and it turned out to be 48.ft., 8.in., Henry explained. "My next jump didn't feel too good either and that was a 49-footer. That's when I said to myself that this could be it and I put together a 50-footer."

His 50-11, 8-3-4, in hop skip and jump was better than the second, place leap by more than four feet, and broke the Crimson mark set in 1981.

Sheehan's record-breaking performance was first as dramatic. From the start of the 3000, it was clear that it would be a fast race, Sheehan, teammate Paul Gompers and B.C.'s John Clopeck broke away from the pack and traded the lead for most of the race.

With less than form laps to go, Gompers made his move, took the lead and tried to stretch it out. But by the nine the gun cracked to signal the last lap. Sheehan was out in front, and with his powerful kick, no one had a player of catching him.

When he broke the tape. 8:02,4 after he began the race, he had smashed the school record by over 10 seconds.

Even without other historic performances, the rest of the men's squad had quite a meet. Despite competing without many distance runners, the thinclads took first place in every event but the weight throw, shot put, 800, and the relays.

Co-Captains Steve Ezeji-Okoye and John Perkins both won then events. Ezeji-Okoye easily took both the 55-m bundles and the 400, while Perkins' gritty performance in the 1500 earned him first place.

Senior Jim Herberich also tan well for the second week in a row, and led all competitors across the finish line in the 500.

The women, on the other hand, were not quite as successful. Despite a number of solid performances, the Crimson simply could not overcome the Eagles' strong sprinting corps, which swept in the 55-meter dash Harvard look only third in the 200.

The Crimson had better luck in the field events. Co-Captain Mariquita Patterson continued her winning ways, taking both the long jump and the hurdles, while sophomore I oriel Boulris and senior Kathy Durante took first and second, respectively, in the shot put.

Senior star Janet Judge had an impressive debut, taking second place in the high jump with a leap of 5-11.2-in. Not bad, considering that the former standout women's soccer goalie had only been on the team for a few days and hadn't high jumped since high school.

Many Crimson distance runners, including Kate Stricker, were in the stands, but freshman Kristin Perini gave the fans a taste of things to come when the cross country runners return to competition. The Yardling simply blew her competition away in the 3000, taking first place by more than nine seconds.