Outdoor Track Returns to Harvard

Outdoor track and field has returned to Harvard.

The Crimson men's and women's tracksters strode against Northeastern on Saturday. Opening the spring season with the inaugural meet for Harvard's new $1 million track and field facility.

The last outdoor meet held on the Harvard campus was during the 1981 season. Between then and the completion of the new track behind Soldiers Field, opposing teams hosted most competitions, save for a few home meets held at MIT's outdoor facility.

"Running on the [new] track feels like floating," harrier Mariquita Patterson said yesterday. Women's Co-Captain Grace deFries described the running surface as "really fast."

That fact helped Harvard's women tracksters through Saturday's winds to defeat Northeastern, 74-53.

However, a new $1 million track was not enough to catapult the men's team past the New England indoor champion Huskies, who tallied 86 points to the Crimson 76.

George Oommen, special assistant to the president of the University, designed the 440-yd. rubber surfaced track to increase speed as well as to reduce the chance of injury from fatigue.

Oommen also designed Harvard's Gordon Indoor Track, widely regarded as among the world's fastest.

"It's one of the fastest and finest tracks in the world," Coach Frank Haggerty said several weeks ago of Oommen's newest track.

Women Triumph

"We'd expected to win, but not as well as we did," deFries said of the women's squad victory.

DeFries, Maryann Harring and Jane Bliss swept the 800-meter event, while Leslie Cooper and Mary Barrett captured first and second in the 1500-meter event Lois Brommer easily won the steeple-chase, covering the 3000-meters in 10:20.

Mariquita Patterson traveled 17-ft., 7-in in the long jump to carry first place, and later squeaked by Northeastern's Kelly Toole to a victorious 15.3 in the 100-meter hurdles Erin Sugrue ascended 1.55 meters to take first in the high jump.

The Crimson men, though, were hindered by several injuries.

"We did better than we thought we might," Co-Captain Brad Bunney said yesterday.

Bunney and Paul O'Leary captured first and second in the 800-meter nearly simultaneously, with respective times of 1:56.53 and 1.56.9. Another Crimson duo, Paul Kent and John Perkins, led the 1500-meter, finishing in 3:55.2 and 3.57.2, respectively.

Mike Okwu, absent from much of this year's indoor competition, returned to win the 100-meter dash in 11.59, 0.03 seconds ahead of Northeastern's Lawrence Hooker.

Peter Jelley hurdled to victory in his second-ever attempt at the steeplechase, finishing in 9:42.2.