Cross-Country Teams Try to Finish Strong at Heps

Harvard cross-country is ready. Ready to trade in the long, stressful, painful months of training for a chance to come up huge today in a race which will ultimately last less than 30 minutes.

The men's and women's teams traveled to Van Courtlandt Park in New York City yesterday for the Heptagonal Cross-Country Championships. Essentially an Ivy League Championship with a little bit of Naval Academy thrown in, Heps is the biggest team race of the season.

"This is payoff time," Captain Margaret Schotte said.

Coming off a successful seventh-place finish at the New England Championships, the women's team said it feels ready to peak.

"Last year there was much more pressure on us, and we tended to choke at the big meets; now we don't have that pressure," Schotte said. "We have a whole season of training behind us, and we've been building so we just need to continue that trend."

Like any team late in its season, the Crimson has its share of nagging injuries. Harvard's top finisher in New Englands, Schotte has been bothered by a mild right hamstring injury since August. The injury has thrown off her stride slightly, resulting in some tenderness and stiffening in her left knee.

"I'll run through it," Schotte said. "You always run through stuff like that."

Junior Kate Moynihan has also been bothered by a knee injury. However, Schotte says that sophomore Senta Burton is coming off a strong season and that sophomore Mary Unsworth "is focused now and in fantastic shape." Freshman Erin Leonard "has been running really well and has had a really strong season."

Schotte also noted the progress of the freshmen.

"There has been phenomenal improvement in the freshmen," Schotte said. "It's going to be really exciting to take them back to the first course they raced on and see the improvement."

As for the competition, the Crimson has already matched up against Dartmouth, Yale and Princeton.

"We know we're really close to them," Schotte said.

The men are coming off a fourth-place finish at New Englands and are fielding one of the strongest teams in years.

"I think this is the best team we've had in the four years I've been here," Captain Scott Muoio said.

Despite the loss of freshman Jussi Utriainen, one of the squad's top runners who left Harvard to attend business school in Finland, Harvard is still fielding a very strong pack, thanks mostly to a great depth of talent.

Muoio, Harvard's top finisher at New Englands, is looking to finish in the top ten this weekend, as is junior Dave Martin.

"Dave has been running very well in practice, and he's been improving with each meet," Muoio said.

In addition to Muoio and Martin the Crimson boasts the talents of junior Brendan Trombley and sophomores Ed Baker and Matt Stevens, all of whom have been running within 10 seconds of each other all season.

"Losing Jussi is pretty big," Martin said, "but you go into every race thinking that this is an opportunity to do your job. We have five guys right now who I have complete faith in."

Part of running well this weekend will also have to do with how the Crimson harriers react to the racing situation.

"A big part of cross-country is mentally being able to overcome changes in pace," Martin said. "A lot of times the first mile can turn into a barn burner and you'll end up sucking wind early in the race, but that's the makeup of a really great runner--someone who is able to react to changes like that."

Of course, in addition to the oft-over-looked strategy required in cross-country, runners must also withstand extreme pain to cross the finish line ahead of their opponents.

"In these championship meets it's just carnage out there," Martin said. "It's great. You know everyone out there is laying it all on the line. It's not really fun to go out there and win races where people aren't really trying. If you do well in a race like this, it really means something."