Track Sweeps Huskies

The Harvard men's and women's track teams did not have the benefit of regular team practices during the winter recess. Because of their long break, Harvard Coach Frank Haggerty '68 went into the first dual meet of the year looking for effort rather than wins.

On Saturday, he got both, as the Crimson swept Northeastern at the Gordon Track and Tennis Center. The Crimson men squeaked by the Huskies, 75-71, on the strength of strong performances in relays and in the field events. The women simply overwhelmed their counterparts, crushing the Lady Huskies, 95-31.

Both teams improved to 2-0 on their dual indoor schedule so far this year.

Harvard Women 95, Northeastern 31

Captain Brenda Taylor ran her usual three events, but surprisingly was edged out in the 60-meter dash by Northeastern senior Nikiya Reid. Taylor did finish with two wins on the day, narrowly defeating Reid in the 60-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash.

Although Taylor was the high point-gainer for the Crimson, junior Nicky Grant turned in the most impressive performance of the day.

Grant has turned shattering her own records into a routine event. Grant had already broken her own school mark against BC a month earlier with a 17.71-meter toss. On Saturday, Grant threw the 20-pound weight 17.75-meters, a new personal best.

Other outstanding performances in the field included freshman Kart Sillats' easy win in the high jump and 1-2-3 Crimson finishes in the 400-meter, 1-mile and 3,000-meter runs. In fact, other than Northeastern sophomore Joanelle Chandler's win in the pole vault and Reid's 60-meter victory, Northeastern did not win a single event.

"The women performed true to form," Haggerty said. "Maybe even better than that. They did a very good job."

Harvard Men 75, Northeastern 70

The Crimson men had a more difficult time with a Husky squad that dominated Harvard's sprinters.

"I went into this race thinking that we would have to work from behind to finish with more points," Haggerty said. "And unfortunately, my prediction seemed on target early on."

Northeastern's Jeff Francis beat sophomore John Meeker in both the 60- and 200-meter races. A first place finish by the Huskies in the 400-meters put Harvard's fate in jeopardy.

The Crimson made up some of those points on the strength of a breakout performance by Tekky Andrew-Jaja. The freshman surprised everyone with second place finishes in the high jump and triple jump, including a personal best 14.41 meters in the latter event.

Senior Arthur Ferguson took first in the triple jump and a close second in the long jump to lead the men. Senior shot putter John Kraay and junior pole vaulter Aaron Snead won their respective events to keep Harvard within striking distance in the points tally.

Ultimately, distance running carried the day for the Crimson. Led by freshman Alisdair McLean-Forman, the Crimson swept the top three spots in the 1,000-meter run. Senior Edward Baker won the mile, and then returned to action late in the meet to help the two-mile relay team collect the winning points.

"Those were the turning points for us, the 1-2-3 finish in the 1,000 and the relay," Haggerty said. "It means a lot to beat a very good team."

The Crimson will return to indoor action on Jan. 27, when it hosts Brown and Cornell.