Harriers Cop Second at HYP

The men's and women's Harvard-Yale-Princeton cross-country meet made its triennial appearance at Franklin Park this past Friday, and the teams from Princeton quickly made themselves at home on Harvard's turf.

The Tigers acclimated themselves to unfamiliar surroundings nicely, taking both the men's and women's races. The Princeton men clogged the top-ten to steal a 34-35 victory from Harvard while the women cruised to a 20-50 win over the Crimson. Yale placed a distant third in both races.

Yale's Mike Stal finished first in the men's race, covering the five-mile course in 25:22. Harvard took the second and third places, as Rob Failla and Bill Bland completed the course in 26:10 and 26:11, respectively.

The meet was decided by the latter half of the top ten, as Princeton took the fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth and tenth spots.

A-Oakay

Even though Harvard's John Oakes broke up the Tiger string with a seventh-place finish in 26:30, the Tigers assured themselves of victory with their five top-ten finishes. Harvard's frustration was compounded by the impressive finishes of Alex Johnson and Jim Hickey, who finished in 11th and 12th, bringing Harvard to within one point of Princeton.

In the women's race, Yale's Heather Slay proved to be the only bright spot for the Elis as she won the 3.1 mile race in 18:10.

The top Crimson finisher was freshman Jen Kearney who crossed the tape in seventh in 19:07. Alais Griffin and Katie Maggs followed shortly thereafter, taking eighth and tenth, respectively. Harvard's Michelle Jernigan finished 12th overall, while Kelly Benke's 14th-place finish accounted for the final Harvard scoring.

Despite its second place finish, the Harvard women's team (1-2-1 in dual meets) continued its improvement. The win over Yale marked the Crimson's first Ivy League victory, and after a second place finish in last week's Greater Boston Championships, Harvard might be peaking at the right time.

"We're running strong as a team," said Maggs. "Our top five has been switching a lot. That shows a lot of individual talent, and I think we're starting to come together as a team.

"On both teams, the times are improving and the teams are congealing, and we can show our true talents as a team as a whole in the final few weeks."

Perhaps the most important date of the final few weeks is November 1, when Columbia plays host to the Heptagonal Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City.