Men's Track Takes Fifth at Heptagonals

Last weekend at the annual indoor Heptagonal Championships, the Harvard men's track team ended its indoor season on a positive note.

Although the team finished fifth overall in the meet, its members put in some solid performances. Unlike the Crimson's earlier meets, points were not only scored by the distance team but also by most of the field event competitors.

"Everybody in field events scored," according to co-captain Amar Kuchinad, "and that bodes well for the outdoor season when everyone will be healthy."

Unfortunately, the men's track team lacked depth and suffered most in the sprints, hurdles, long jump and triple jump. No runners were entered in the 55-meter dash or in the 55-meter hurdles. Harvard had no triple jumper and its top long jumper, sophomore Husani Barnwell, was absent due to a pulled hamstring.

Other major losses to injury were senior 800-meter runner Ben Bowen and junior distance runner Killian Lonergan.

Despite these circumstances, the men's team pulled together, drawing points from many performers. Senior Darin Shearer won the 1,000 meters, placed third in the 3,000 meters and helped the distance medley relay (DMR) to a first-place finish.

And in the 3,000, he improved his personal best to a time of 8:19.29.

Junior Ian Carswell won the mile in 4:12.25 and anchored the winning DMR. Co-captain Matt Bundle ran the same relay and placed fourth in the mile run.

Among field event competitors, points were widely distributed. Junior pole vaulter Steven Brannon took third place, while freshman shot-putter Kenneth Hughes and junior weight-thrower Mark Clayman both came in fifth to contribute to the Harvard total.

In addition, senior Terrence Mann took fourth in the high jump with 2.06 meters--although he has just recently returned from an injury.

Aside from its impressive distance medley relay team, Harvard ran two other scoring relays, the 4x800-meters and the 4x400-meters. Freshman Joe Ciollo was a key performer in these races, running the 400-meter leg of the DMR and anchoring the 4x400m relay only 20 minutes later.

Although team members are not satisfied with fifth place, they recognize that the team did very well, considering its lack of depth and injury problems,.

"I feel we lost to injury rather than to our opponents," Kuchinad, a Crimson editor, said. "The people we have in the events that they run are some of the best in the league."

With the outdoor season just around the corner, this positive outlook will prove to be a valuable asset for the spring as team members returning from injury add strength to the team.