Thinclads Split Meets With Northeastern

The status quo remains on the local track scene. Saturday's dual meet between Harvard and Northeastern at the Gordon Track Center proved that the Harvard men's team may indeed be the strongest in the city, while the women's team still lags behind its local rivals.

The men, who asserted themselves with a win over Boston College in early December, ran their dual meet record to 2-0 with a 74-67 win over the Huskies. The women, who had been unable to top B.C., saw their record dip to 0-2 with a 69-44 loss.

Junior Spencer Punter led the Crimson with a victory in the mile and a second place-finish in the 800. Punter capped off his afternoon by running the opening leg on the two mile relay team that put Northeastern away for good.

It was Punter's earlier heroics, however, that provided the most excitement of the meet. In the meet's first race of the day, the mile, Punter locked in a duel with Northeastern's Dino DiBiaso that wasn't settled until the home stretch, Punter put on a late surge to cross the tape in a 4:16.20, just 0.03 seconds ahead of DiBiaso.

Harvard's Michael Belbeck was the only runner to finish ahead of Punter on the day. Belbeck won the 800 in 1:56, and came back to run the anchor leg on the winning two-mile relay.

Dean Lufkin paced the Crimson in the field events, winning the long jump and placing second in the triple jump. Ed Rios also provided a high light away from the track, winning the high jump with a 6'6" leap.

The Crimson women were eliminated early, as the Huskies swept the first six events of the day. Northeastern's Deena Washington set the tone by outrunning Harvard's Merrill McKenzie and Nicole Pensa to win the mile. The N.U. sprinters were too much for Harvard, as Jackie Smith's seven-second scamper led a Huskies sweep of the 55-meter dash.

Freshman Alais Griffin provided the highlight once again for the Harvard women,winning the 800 in 2:18. Griffin's victory was hersecond in as many dual meets.

Other Crimson winners were Hollie Moore, whofinished the 3000 in 10:41. and Megan Young, whonearly cleared seven feet en route to a high-jumpvictory.

Like most Harvard students, both Crimson squadswill be inactive during exam period and willresume their seasons February 1, when Gordon Trackwill be the site of the Greater BostonChampionships. That's right--yet anotheropportunity to establish the pecking order on thelocal track scene