Harvard Owns GBCs Behind Mee, Griffin

As host of the Greater Boston Championships at the Gordon Indoor Track on Friday and Saturday, the Harvard men's and women's trak teams proved to be less than hospitable to their guests.

The men's squad posted a hard-fought victory, overcoming a late Northeastern lead to win by an 85-81 margin. Boston University (50), MIT (47), Boston College (41), Tufts (13) and Brandeis (3) rounded out the men's field.

As usual, the women dominated the field, turning in an impressive 96 1/2 point effort to handily defeat B.U. (62), Northeastern (58 1/2), B.C. (49), Tufts (24) and Brandeis (11).

The men's victory was in doubt until the final event, the pole vault. Returning from a semester abroad in Scotland and with only one week of preparation, Scott Short vaulted 14-ft., 6-in. to place first and secure the come-from-behind win for the Crimson.

Complementing Short's heroics, Derrick Horner turned in a stellar performance on Saturday. The sophomore sprinter took first place in the 55m dash, second in the 200m and third in the long jump.

In other men's action, junior John Mee pulled a hamstring muscle in the 500m finals and had to withdraw from the race, making the meet that much tougher for the Crimson.

Senior Timothy Harte helped make up for some of the gap caused by Mee's untimely injury, placing first in the 3000m and earned six points for the Crimson.

Once again, the women's victory can be attributed to an inspiring team effort. Even with the absence of senior mid-distance runner Meredith Rainey, who was competing at another meet, Harvard dominated most of the events and pulled off a convincing victory.

Sophomore Catherine Griffin was a force in the field events, taking first in the shot put and the 20-lb. weight. Her 51-ft. 1-in. toss in the 20-lb. weight was a new meet record and a personal best. In the shot put, she eclipsed her competitors by over an entire meter with her 13.19-meter throw.

The Crimson also scored first, second and fourth place finishes in the 5000m to net 12 points. Junior Suzanne Jones rocketed to a 15:56.15 first place finish, over a minute ahead of teammate Jody Dushay.

The men's and women's squads will travel to Providence, R.I., to take on Brown on Saturday, February 10.