Athletes Get No Break

The Harvard men's lacrosse squad has a long week ahead of it--as if being in Cambridge over spring break weren't enough, the 0-1 laxmen begin and end their "vacation" with key Ivy League contests against Cornell and Penn.

The Big Red, ranked fourth in the nation, hits town tomorrow for a 2 p.m. showdown at Ohiri Field. The contest is the Crimson's first home game after a preseason truncated by bad weather and inhospitably waterlogged playing fields.

Next Sunday, Harvard heads to Philadelphia to take on the sixth-ranked Quakers. In between, the laxmen will meet Boston College on the Eagles' turf Tuesday.

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"The season usually starts with Penn," Harvard women's lacrosse Coach Carole Kleinfelder said last year.

"And sometimes it ends with Penn."

If that's the case, the Crimson should know by tomorrow how long its season will be.

One of Harvard's biggest showdowns of the year is set for tomorrow afternoon at Penn's Franklin Field. The Ivy season opener could go a long way in determining the winner of the race for the league title, a crown that automatically sends the champion to the NCAA championships.

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The practice schedule is already set for the Harvard softball squad, but the batwomen won't be getting much rest either--the Crimson is slated for double practices all next week.

Whether the squad will finally be able to get some much much-needed outdoor practice time remains to be seen--the fields are under water and most of the season's early home games have been relocated. "We have to play it by ear at this point," says senior Co-Captain Ellen Sackaroff.

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It's hard to imagine the weather not permitting the men's and women's rugby squads to do their thing--but the absence of competitors might.

The men are all set--they're already in Hawaii, looking at a rough three-games-in-nine-days schedule that features two colleges and a club team.

But the women ruggers will head for the Bahamas despite a last-minute cancellation by their slated competitors, and the squad may be forced to spend its break actually vacationing.

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Only one thing is certain about the Harvard baseball team's spring break trip to Florida: the players will return with enviable tans.

But success or failure is more than skin deep. The eight-game trip will be the team's first outdoor showing of the spring, and Coach Alex Nahigian hopes to learn something about his squad's muscle as they face several pro farm teams and the Universities of Tampa and South Florida.

Some of the key muscles belong to third baseman Elliott Rivera, pitcher Doug Sutton and shortstop Tony DiCesare. All hope to prove that their arm injuries are history. If Rivera's tendinitis flares up, he may have to move to first base. If Sutton can't pitch seven innings without soreness in his arm, he'll have difficulty earning a starting spot. And if DiCesare, whose arm has been great in practice, can't throw consistently, Bob Kay may become this year's shortstop.

On offense, the muscle problem looks a little different. Last year's Eastern League champions lost more than half their RBIs and more than half their home runs to graduation. Nahigian will look to Rivera, Scott Vierra, Bruce Weller, Mickey Maspons and Jim DePalo to replace the missing punch.

Pitching remains the biggest question, with only two sure starters. Jeff Musselman and Charlie Marchese and no reliever in sight. That leaves Nahigian with at least three spots and a lot of inexperienced players trying to fill them.