THE SPORTING SCENE

In pre-season speculation, the varsity cross country team was the biggest question mark in Harvard athletics. Because of veteran soccer and football teams that had won their respective league titles in '61, coach Bill McCurdy's harriers were given little chance to dominate the University sports arena.

But with autumn athletics at the halfway mark, only the Harvard distance men remain undefeated among varsity competitors. Only cross country captain Ed Hamlin has an even chance to lead a Crimson team to an Ivy League Championship.

Coach McCurdy's present 6-0 record borders on the miraculous when the rash of injuries and illnesses that have plagusoned runners and a flock of sophomores, McCurdy soon found himself without the ed the squad are taken into account.

Starting the season with just two seaservices of solid performers Aurel de Hollan and Brian McPhelim. Both runners have been de-activated indefinitely with season-long injuries.

When both members of the varsity "big two" (Hamlin and junior Eddie Meehan) came down with colds and hampering injuries in the middle of preseason practice, it looked as if McCurdy might be in for his first losing season since coming to Cambridge.

The Crimson's subsequent series of upset victories over Cornell, Brown, and the University of Massachusetts have made the varsity one of the most surprising running powers in the North. Much of the credit must go to Hamlin.

Top performances by Hamlin and Eddie Meehan, and the running of sophomore Bill Crain have provided the necessary combinations for the six varsity wins. Nicknamed "Big Bill" by his teammates, Crain has pushed his way to the front line in his first year of college competition.

With Hamlin and Meehan "in better shape than they have been all year" and Crain surpassing pre-season hopes, McCurdy admits that the team's chances for an undefeated season look good.

A lot depends on the varsity's showing in the "Big Three" meet against Princeton and Yale on Friday. Yale will be boasting its unbeatable Bobby Mack while the Tigers have a depth not seen in the Ivy League for some time.