M. & W. Track Unleash Against Huskies

The men's meet was much closer than the women's, but in the end, both of Harvard's indoor track teams prevailed in Saturday's competition with Northeastern at the Gordon Track and Tennis Center.

While the men's team (2-0) just barely sneaked past Northeastern, 74-69, the women's team (2-0) had relatively little trouble placing first in all but one of the events en route to a 96-26 trouncing of the Huskies.

Harvard Men

The men faced some scary moments before finally putting the Huskies away.

"Things were a little too close for comfort," senior runner Dave Martin said. "We were just getting off break and some guys weren't as sharp as usual."

In a spur-of-the-moment coach's decision, Martin was called upon to compete in the 1,000-meter run. He ended up winning the event.

"I did not expect to win the 1,000," Martin said. "I was inserted in that at the last minute, but I guess it paid off."

Martin also finished third in the mile run. Harvard junior Edward Baker won the event with a time of 4:14.4.

In the 3,000-meter run, Baker raced to victory once again (8:35.76). Harvard, in fact, claimed the top three places in that event, as senior co-captain Darren Dinneen (8:43.55) and John Friedman (8:45.21) finished second and third respectively.

For Dinneen, who mostly specializes in the 800-meter run, the 3,000-meter event was somewhat of a new experience.

"Darren is trying to build up a lot of distance strength," Martin said.

The Crimson received victories in the 400 and 500 meter runs from sophomores Kobie Fuller and Osahon Omoregie, respectively.

Junior John Kraay captured the Harvard men's lone victory in the field events, triumphing in the shot put with a throw of 14.45 meters.

The Crimson clinched its winning performance with a close victory in the one-mile relay, defeating the Huskies' team by a mere six-tenths of a second.

"The relays really show who is the stronger team," said Martin. "They show who has the depth."

The Crimson next competes on Jan. 30, when it meets Cornell and Brown.

Although happy with Saturday's win, Martin says there is room for improvement.

"This meet was definitely a wake-up call," said Martin. "Northeastern was a bit stronger than we expected, but we are going to be facing off against a lot better Ivy League teams."

Harvard Women

The women's squad had a much easier time with the Huskies than its male counterparts, as the Crimson ladies swept to its second convincing victory of the season.

"We didn't expect [to win by so much] at all," junior captain Brenda Taylor said. "Our coach was really pulling out all the stops, putting different people in different events to get points."

Taylor once again sparked Harvard, winning three events handily. Taylor raced to victories in the 60-meter hurdles (8.48), the 60-meter dash (7.64), and the 200-meter dash (24.58).

Harvard junior Dora Gyorffy won the triple jump with a mark of 12.71, breaking a school record. Gyorffy, along with Taylor, has already qualified to compete in the Olympic trials later in the year.

Junior Mary Unsworth cruised to victory in the 3,000-meter run, outdoing the second-place finisher by nearly 30 seconds.

"Mary was pretty much by herself out there," Taylor said. "She maintained great stride and pace throughout her race."

The Crimson swept the top three spots in the mile run, as senior Katherine Moynihan (5:19.12), junior Senta Burton (5:19.64), and senior Kimberly Megdanis (5:22.34) finished first through third.

Harvard also received a significant contribution from junior Marna Schutte, who placed first in the 400-meter run (56.95) and second in the 200-meter dash behind Taylor.

In the throwing events, freshman Jill Kornetsky continued to show great promise. Kornetsky, who won both the 20-lb.-weight throw and the shot put event against BC on Dec. 4, finished first again in the shot put with a throw of 12.57 meters. In the 20-lb.-weight throw, Kornetsky placed second behind Crimson junior Natalie Grant (16.40).

"I've just been happy to be able to help out the team," Kornetsky said.

Also for Harvard, freshman Amy Biel recorded the best jump in the pole vault (4.55), and classmate Alayna Miller placed first in the long jump (7.12).

In the relays, Harvard outran Northeastern in both the one-and two-mile events by considerable margins of 6.96 and 13.34 seconds respectively.

Overall, the Harvard women turned in a solid performance in their final tune-up before the Ivy League season gets underway.

"I was fantastically impressed," Taylor said. "I've come to expect great things from the team since the beginning of the season, and I will continue to throughout the rest of the year."

This Saturday, the Crimson will face off against Brown, a team that has traditionally been a thorn in the side of Harvard.

"Brown is our toughest competitor," Taylor said. "We're definitely going to challenge them this year. I'm really looking forward to the meet."