It's the Veritas: Tracksters Tame Bulldogs

Even for an outstanding team, it was an outstanding victory. The Harvard women's track team crushed Yale Saturday at Soldiers Field, 91-36, winning all but three-events and upping its season record to 4-0.

The Crimson beat the Elis by only three points during the indoor season, but Co-Captain Grace deFries explained that the current Crimson team is much stronger and has more depth at middle distances than its predecessor.

"We thought Yale would put a much stronger team against us than they did," added deFries, but many of the Elis' top runners could not race due to injuries.

Not expecting an easy win, the women put all their effort into the meet, said junior Mariquita Patterson, and this led to the blow-out.

Patterson set a Harvard record in the long jump with a 19-ft., 2(1/2)-in. performance, won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.2 seconds and was a member of the victorious 400-meter relay team.

Junior Marie Acacia took the shot put and the discus events with throws of 39-ft., 1-in, and 114-ft., respectively. Classmate Kathleen Durante took second in both events.

Participants emphasized the team effort involved in the triumph. Each person "does not do well for herself but does well for the team," Patterson said.

She added that the tracksters were helped out by the weather. she explained that continually having to practice in "cold, windy, rainy" weather had led to "team unity."

This week, some squad members will travel to the Penn relays and to the Greater Boston Championships. While the Heptagonal Championships (all the Ivies plus Army and Navy) are coming up in two weeks.

"Everyone's excited about the team's prospects for Heptagonals," said deFries. The team's primary competition will come from Army.

"We're coming off the season so strong that we're going into the Heps with more confidence than we did in indoor," added Patterson.