Thinclads Split Dual Meet at Army

In football, the desperation, last second pass is called the Hail Mary. For the Harvard women's track team, it should be called the Hail Beth.

Beth Pfefferle, that is.

Thirty meters behind in the anchor leg of the 4x800-meter relay, Pfefferle took the baton from teammate Eva Klohnen, and proceeded to kick past her Army opponent. The relay victory put Harvard on top for good in Saturday's dual meet at West Point, 64-54.

"I just told myself I had to do it," Pfefferle said. "I didn't think about whether I could do it or not. I knew that the meet came down to the relay."

Pfefferle's comeback capped a strong outing by the thinclads, who raised their record to 3-0 in dual meets. It was the first time that the women had ever defeated the Cadets.

Racing Luck

"I would have predicted that Army would win," said Harvard Coach Frank Haggerty. "The women went in with a very competitive spirit and a unified attitude and of course they performed well."

son with victories in the 200 and 400-m events, while also running in the triumphant 4x400-m relay team. Her time of 55.25 seconds in the 400-m set a new field-house record.

Pfefferle's thrilling finish in the relay was foreshadowed by her strong first-place time of 2:20 in the individual 800-m race. Joining her and Klohnen on the winning relay squad were sophomore Tina Lount and junior Jackie Ball.

In the mile relay, which preceded the two mile relay, Harvard's time of 4:01.9 was enough to earn a victory. Running that event along with Rainey were Elizabeth Ross, Carol Curtain, and Dorcas Mamboleo.

Mamboleo provided a stunning personal performance as she won the 55-m dash in 7.42 seconds, upsetting a heavily-favored Army field. The Yardling had trimmed her training schedule over the past week while nursing a painful pair of shin splints.

"I didn't expect to participate," she said."I didn't think that we had any chance to beat them. But the team was really psyched up for this meet, and it encouraged me to do well." Men Shot Down By Cadets

The Harvard men's track team left the peaceful confines of Cambridge and went down to West Point Saturday to battle Army. Unfortunately, most of the Crimson troops were dead on arrival, as the Cadets triumphed, 91.5-44.5.

The loss drops the thinclads' record to 1-2 in dual meets.

While Harvard slumped on the track, it sparkled in the field. Co-Captain James Russell won the 35-lb. throw with a toss of 61-ft., 5 1/2-in. Freshman Nick Sweeney snagged third with his throw of 53-ft., 11-in.

Sweeney led in the shotput as well, heaving it 49-ft., 7-in. for an easy first. His teammate Harry Rothchild followed with a personal best of 47-ft., 10 1/2-in., taking second place in the competition.

In the high jump, Harvard's Chris Sullivan also scored a personal best, winning the event with a leap of 6.115 meters. Yardlings Mauricio Velez and Rob Barfield challenged each other in the long jump, taking second and third place, respectively.

The Crimson were held to only two victories on the track. Tim Harte dusted his opponents in the 1000-m, finishing in 2:31.35. In the 55-m hurdles, Sean Turbitt crossed the line in 7.82 seconds.

"We were generally kind of flat in the running events," said Coach Frank Haggerty. "We shifted the training routine for our cross country runners after a competitive season. They would have burned out otherwise."

Russell, though disappointed with his team's lackluster showing, was not overly concerned.

"I think that this is cyclical," he said. "We won our first meet, and only narrowly lost to Northeastern [last week]. This shouldn't have been a meet to get too hyped up about anyway."

More serious than the meet loss is the injury to Turbitt. Nagged for seven years by what was perceived to be a hamstring injury, the hurdler was told recently by doctors that his pain arose from a suspended chip from the base of his pelvis.

"The injury has definitely gotten worse," Turbitt said. "I've lost a lot of flexibility, and I haven't had any really good times yet this year."