Varsity Shows Running Strength In Track Win Over Elis, Tigers

NEW HAVEN, Feb. 16--Yale's expected superiority in the field events and Princeton's effective track team never materialized Saturday afternoon, and thereby lies the story behind the varsity's second straight Big Three Indoor title. The Crimson picked up six individual first places to five for Yale and none for Princeton to win 70 3/4 to Yale's 59 3/4 and Princeton's 6 1/2.

Yale could pick up only a nine point margin in the field events, while the varsity outscored the Elis, 50 to 30, in the running events.

In all fairness it must be said that a series of bad breaks for Princeton which kept stars Rod Zwirner and Dick Knorr out of action helped the Crimson almost as much as several unexpected clutch performances. With Zwirner out, the varsity took the first three places in the two mile, while in Knorr's event, the weight, John DuMoulin and Pete Harpel took first and second.

With the meet close going into the relays, coach Bill McCurdy gambled on a quick victory, by throwing his best men into the mile relay. Leadoff man Dick Wharton handed second man Dave Brahms a five-yard lead, but disaster struck in the back stretch. Yale's second man Bob Kirschner attempted to pass Brahms on the inside at the same time that Brahms decided to move in. Brahms went flying, and by the handoff, was 15 yards behind second-running Princeton. No foul was called.

Two-Mile Relay Second

Third man Jim Cairns made up ten yards with anchorman Bill Morris passing his Tiger rival on the backstretch to finish second, 15 yards behind Yale.

The two-mile relay team, needing a second place finish to cinch the meet, came in nearly 100 yards ahead of Princton to pick up the three points. Bob Weil led off with Dave Spinney second, A1 Gordon third, and Phil Williams anchorman.

Possibly the strongest showings for the varsity were in the 600, the hurdles, and the dash, where against strong fields, the Crimson took first and second. In the 600, Cairns held the lead from the first lap to win by four yards over teammate Wharton, who had passed Eli ace Bob Skerritt on the last turn. Cairns' time of 1:12.0 broke the old Harvard mark of 1:21.2 set by Al Wills in 1956.

In the hurdles, both Joel Cohen and Joel Landau broke the existing Harvard record of :07.6 in the semi-finals, by winning their heats in :07.5. Cohen went on to win the event in :07.4, breaking the mark for the second time. Landau finished a close second. Later, Landau and Sandy Dodge teamed up to take the dash easily.

Williams Second in Mile

Yale's John Slowik scored an impressive upset in the 1000, as he sprinted the last to beat Wharton by 25 yards. Morris just held off Yale's Jeff Loucks for third.

Williams looked impressive in his debut in the mile, finishing a close second to Yale's Jack Bogan's 4:21.6. Pete Reider, who led for three quarters of the race finished third, two yards behind Williams.

Reider took the lead at the start of the two-mile and coasted in more than 100 yards ahead of teammate Bill Thompson, who edged Dave Norris for second. Both finished 70 yards ahead of Eli Al Friedman, who took fourth.

Cohen provided one of the thrills of the meet, when on his third jump in two years, he placed second in the broad jump with 22 feet, 2 1/4 inches, only 4 1/4 inches shorter than Yale's Pete Bensinger's winning jump.