Thinclads Travel to Texas to Train

Captains: Brian Cann, Nancy Lutz, Paul Mayer, James Russell, and Katie Toner

1987 Record: Men 8th at Heps Women 3rd at Heps

Home Meets: McCurdy Track

The Harvard men's and women's track teams are heading south this spring so that they can head north in the standings.

The teams will hold double training sessions in Houston, Texas, for the first part of their spring break, then will compete in outdoor invitational meets at Texas A&M and Rice.

Both the men's and women's teams show more potential than they have in recent years. They are young teams, fielding strong freshman and sophomore classes.

"Our inexperience showed in the indoor Heptagonal meet, but people will improve as we proceed to the outdoor season," Coach Frank Haggerty said. "The future," he added, "is looking brighter."

On the men's side, the Crimson's strongest events lie in throwing areas, including the hammer throw, shot put and javelin throw.

Co-Captain James Russell is one of the top hammer throwers in the nation. Russell recently placed seventh in the 35-Ib. weight throw at the NCAA indoor championships, and is favored to qualify for the outdoor nationals in the hammer throw for the fourth consecutive year.

Freshman Nicolas Sweeney is Harvard's top discus thrower. Haggerty predicts, "Nic Sweeney should be one of the top in the league."

Harvard's leading javelin throwers include Matt Collins and Shawn Carew. Russell, Sweeney, Collins and Carew combine with the rest of the throwers to form the backbone of the men's team. "It's a good crew to work with," says Russell. "We help each other along."

Several of the team's top athletes--including Frank Courtney, Mark Gragg, Tim Langen, Jon Lewis, Guth, and Sean Turbitt--are suffering from an array of injuries.

Turbitt, who was a major contributor to the team during the indoor season, has been suffering from an injured pelvic bone and will not return this season.

"Injuries hurt the team in terms of depth," Haggerty said. "We are spread thinly in certain events."

Harvard also suffers in another area--lack of experience. The Crimson is hurting for experience in the 400-meter hurdles, partly because of Don Lavigne's absence. Lavigne is on leave after competing on the U.S. bobsled team at the Olympic Games in Calgary. Freshman Allan Andrews will take Lavigne's place in this event.

Harvard may be weakened from injuries and absences, but it retains a number of promising point scorers In field events, junior Chris Sullivan recently achieved a personal best in the high jump with a leap of 6-ft., 11-in., and Rutledge Simmons reached his longest triple jump with a distance of 45-ft., 10-in.

On the track, Tim Harte is the team's fastest miler with a personal best time of 4-min., 13-sec. Brian Cann has proven to be competitive in everything from the mile to the 5000 meters. Mayer is the team's leading sprinter, with times of 10.8 seconds in the 100 meters and 22.3 seconds in the 200 meters. Freshmen Peter Wilensky and David Son provide much-needed depth in the sprinting events. John Koenigsknecht, John Mee and Eric Rahe will run for the Crimson in the middle-distance events.

The women's team, led by Co-Captains Nancy Lutz and Katie Toner, boasts the talent of sophomore Meredith Rainey, a national qualifier in the 400 meters.

In the field events, Manda Schossberger is a leading triple jumper, and Megan Young will earn points for the women's team in the high jump.

On the track, Carol Kirton and Dorcas Mamboleo compete for the Crimson in sprinting events. Tina Lount runs the 3000 meters, and Romney Resney is a top 5000 meter runner. 1988 TRACK SCHEDULE

April at. 9  NORTHEASTERN Sat. 16  BROWN DARTMOUTH Sat. 23  at Yale Thu. 28  at Penn Relays Sat. 30  (Pennsylvania)

May Sun. 1  at Greater Bostons (Northeastern) Sat. 7  at Heptagonals Sun. 8  (Brown) Sat. 14  at ECAC (women) Sun. 15  (George Mason) Sat. 21  at IC4A (men) Sat. 22  (Villanova)