Track Teams Win Some, Lose Some

In meets considered mainly tune-ups for this weekend's dual-match against Yale, the Harvard men's and women's track teams competed at Northeastern Saturday against Brown, Northeastern, and Southern Connecticut (plus Rhode Island for the women).

Although the women did not view this meet as important in-itself coming in, they still beat Brown (who beat the Harvard women and men last weekend), 63 to 62.5, and finished second overall. Still, the meet was mainly seen as a chance to get used to the track at Northeastern--which will be Harvard's home track for the outdoor season because McCurdy Track is undergoing repairs--and an opportunity to hone outdoor skills.

"The team really came together," junior All-American Karen Goetze said, "especially after coming apart a little bit last week against Brown and Dartmouth."

The usual suspects excelled for the women, who were racing without injured co-captain Jen Kearney.

Crimson junior Amanda Williams finished first in the 200-meter sprint. Williams also finished third in the 100-meter dash. Co-captain Shireen Boulus finished second in the 400-meter run and third in the 200-meter.

Junior Stacy Barber finished second in the high jump. Junior Heather MacLellan placed in the top three in both the long jump and the triple jump.

Goetze finished second in the 1500-meter run, with sophomore Jenny Martin running right behind her to take third place. Senior Meredith Fitzgerald came in second in the 3000-meter race, and freshmen Margaret Angell came in fourth. And senior Patricia Lyons contributed her usual impeccable performances in the throwing events.

"This was a good meet for us because it gave us a chance to get out on Northeastern's track," said senior Kelly Benke, who competed in the half-mile event. "We didn't worry about the team scores. We just tried to get good individual performances before the meets that really matter (such as Yale and the upcoming Heptagonal Championships)."

Sophomore distance runner Caitlin Hurley echoed Benke's sentiments.

"It was so nice to feel the track and the whole atmosphere," Hurley said. "Just getting out there was great."

Harvard is expected to beat Yale this weekend, but the meet takes on extra importance because performances there help determine who goes to England this summer for the every-other-year Harvard-Yale-Oxford-Cambridge meet in Cambridge, England. (The meet is held in England only once every four years.)

"Normally, we'd beat Yale," Benke said. "But people are focusing more on this weekend because people can qualify to go to England."

The first-place finishers in the Yale meet qualify automatically for the meet in England.

"There is a little bit of stress from competing against each other," Hurley added. "I mean, in the 3000-meter race, we'll have seven [Harvard] people competing."

On the men's side of the ledger, what happened this Saturday is what has happened all year--a thin Crimson team got some fine individual performances, but an overall lack of participants dealt a decisive blow to any chance of victory over a strong Brown team. (Again, however, the meet was seen by Harvard as no more than a tune-up for the Yale meet.)

And even the individual performances were not as abundant as usual, due to minor injuries to a few key performers--including All-American sophomore Ian Carswell (who runs middle distances) and co-captain Dan Dusek (who throws the javelin). However, the two are expected back by the Yale meet.

"People performed well," said co-captain Bryan Henry, who won the 800-meter run. "But because this meet was not really important in terms of the team score, the intensity was not there."

Junior Eugene Chan, who has been throwing extremely well so far this year, won the javelin toss. And on an extremely positive note, junior Terrence Mann--who has battled back from injury--triumphed in the high jump.

"It was great to see [Mann] back in form," Henry said.

Finally, junior Darrin Shearer placed second in the 1500-meter race, while junior Stephen McCauley grabbed second in the discuss throw.

As usual, Harvard did not fare well in the sprints, primarily because of a lack of competitors.

Junior Ray Wynter, one the Crimson's best sprinters, decided not to run in the outdoor season because of a heavy course load.

He joins junior sprinter Shane Mauricette on the sidelines. Mauricette, perhaps Harvard's top sprinter, had to take leave for the semester for non-track related medical reasons.

Junior middle distance runner Ben Bowen and junior 400-meter and relay runner Jeffrey Pressman will also not complete in the outdoor season.

To the insightful (and not-so-insightful) fan, what this means is that the men's squad is thin as nails.

"We can't worry about things we can't control," Henry said. "Our top performers are doing well. We'll be faced with a lack of depth, so realistically the team score will not indicate how well we do."

But Henry stressed that against Yale, Harvard is looking to win in the best way.

"We dominate Yale in events we field people," Henry said. "But it will be a close meet because they'll win the events we don't have people in. It should come down to the relays."