W. Track Edge Out Competition, M. Track Third

The outdoor meets thus far for the Harvard women's track team couldn't have been much closer.

On Saturday's tri-meet at Dartmouth with Brown the three teams were so close that nobody had a clue who had won until the final tally was announced.

And to the relief of everyone wearing Crimson, Harvard came out on top with 67 points, followed by Brown with 64, and the hosts with 61.

A mere three points--the equivalent of a second-place finish in a single event-- decided each place, which meant that every individual was crucial to the outcome.

This was the second straight week the women's track team had been involved in a tight contest. At last week's Bayou Classic in Texas, champion Stephen F. Austin, Harvard, and Rice all finished within two points of each other.

The men's tri-meet wasn't nearly as close. Dartmouth won with 90 points. Brown finished a distant second with 58, while Harvard tallied 47.

Harvard Women

Junior captain Brenda Taylor has been spectacular for the Crimson all season, consistently winning two or three events each meet.

What's more amazing is that she keeps getting better.

In the 100-meter high hurdles, Taylor's run of 13.73 seconds smashed her school record set last June of 14.11 seconds.

Taylor's stiffest competition in the event came from her sister, Brown junior Lindsay Taylor. The sibling rivalry pushed both athletes into breaking their personal records. Lindsay placed second at 14.21 seconds.

"It definitely helped [in breaking the school record]," Taylor said. "It's always an extra gear when Lindsay's in the lane next to me."

Taylor's other victory for the Crimson came in the 200, which she won with a time of 24.64 seconds.

Although Taylor did not run in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, the event in which she has qualified for the Olympic Trials, Harvard still had enough depth to place one-two in the event. Sophomore Carrie McGraw won with a time of 1:03:06, while freshman Amanda Shanklin's 1:03.72 run clocked right behind her.

"There are events where we've been stacking in the past, but now we can spread out more," Taylor said. "Like in the 400 hurdles, we've got three great runners."

Junior Marna Schutte had a day to remember as well. In the 400, an event in which she has already won multiple Heptagonal championships, Schutte ran a personal-best time of 55.28 seconds. She finished nearly three seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

Schutte also placed second in the 200 with a time of 25.24 seconds, giving Harvard the top two finishers in that event.

Freshman sprinters Jennifer Leath and Alayna Miller placed second and third, respectively, in the 100. Leath's time of 12.79 seconds was just short of defending Heptagonal champion Nichole Hill's winning time of 12.71.

Miller also won the long jump (5.50 meters) and the triple jump (11.46 meters). Shanklin's leap of 5.35meters gave the Crimson a one-two finish in the long jump, while Kathryn Ousley placed third in the triple jump.

Sophomore Loni Sherwin bounced back from injury to place fourth in the pole vault with a 2.59-meter jump.

The best finish out of the Crimson distance runners came from senior Bethany Helms, who placed second in the 800 with a 2:16.69 run.

Sophomore Erin Larkspur's time of 10:32.00 earned her fourth in the 3000.

Freshman Jill Kornetsky was Harvard's top thrower. She won the hammer with a personal-best throw of 51.31 meters.

"Jill was amazing," Taylor said. "With that throw, she would have won Heps last year."

Kornetsky also placed third in the discus with a throw of 39.06 meters. Sophomore Carrie Haberstroh finished fourth in the event.

Sophomore Natalie Grant, the school-record holder in weight throw, finished fourth in the hammer with a 45.57-meter toss.

Freshman Donielle Colich's throw of 33.76 meters was good for fourth in the javelin.

Harvard finished behind Brown in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, but second-place finishes over Dartmouth in each event were just enough to put the Crimson over the top.

The fact that Harvard managed to win the meet against Brown, the defending outdoor Heptagonal champions, despite missing top high-jumper Dora Gyorffy, bodes well for the Crimson's chances in this year's Outdoor Heps. Harvard finished ahead of Brown in this year's Indoor Heps.

"The outdoor season has different events," Taylor said. "But I think the Outdoor Heps will turn out to be just as close as this year's Indoor meet."

Gyorffy, this year's NCAA Indoor Champion in the high jump, was out with a minor foot injury suffered last week in Texas. That meet at Rice did much to spread the word about Harvard track.

"As they made the announcement that we were winning, all the Texas people were saying, 'Harvard? They do track over there?'" Taylor said. "It was great. We'd have easily won the meet if we had chosen to enter a few more events."

Harvard Men

Despite the third place finish, the Crimson still had four individual winners.

As usual, the Harvard throwers were superb. Junior Chris Clever's 61.02- meter throw won the javelin, while junior John Kraay's 15.90-meter throw gave him first in the shot put, edging out his nearest competitor by just a hundredth of a meter.

Kraay also placed fourth in the discus. The Crimson's top finisher in the event, freshman Ian Shelswell, earned second with a 46.38-meter throw.

Junior Tarek Hamid's 46.85 throw was good for fourth in the hammer.

Junior Arthur Fergusson won the triple jump (14.70 meters) and placed second in the long jump (6.96 meters).

Senior distance runner David Martin was the other Harvard individual winner, winning a close race in the 3000 steeplechase (9:21.72) which was decided by less than a three-tenths of a second.

Co-captain Darren Dinneen, one of Harvard's top runners, returned from injury to manage a close, second-place finish in the 1500 (3:57.79).

Sophomore Osahon Omoregie ran well, placing second in the 400 with a time of 49.05 seconds.

Sophomore Kobie Fuller was the Crimson's top sprinter. His time of 11.14 seconds earned him third in the 100.

Co- captain Dominic Patillo (1:54.82) and sophomore John Cinelli gave Harvard third and fourth, respectively, in the 800.

Senior Cabral Williams' time of 55.19 seconds gave him a second-place finish in the 400 intermediate hurdles.