Harriers Finish Disastrous Season By Placing Seventh in Heptagonals

NEW YORK, November 6-The dismal 1959 cross country season ended today in dull cloudy weather at New York's Van Cortlandt Park. In one of its poorest showings of recent years, the Crimson finished seventh in the annual Heptagonal Game.

Even though Jed Fitzgerald and Jack Benjamin were out with injuries, the varsity gave what Coach Bill McCurdy called "a representative performance." Strong efforts by Mark Mullin, Ralph Perry, and Eddie Martin were the bright spots on an otherwise gloomy afternoon.

Mullin and Perry came in a stride apart in 20th and 21st places, respectively. On the tough, hilly Van Cortlandt course, both ran 26:47 for the five-mile distance. Martin was the Crimson's third finisher, taking 34th.

Dick Slansky was five places behind Martin in 39th position, and Tony Field, scoring for the first time this fall, came in 46th. The varsity's other two contesttants, Don Kirkland and Wes Hildreth, were 58th and 65th. 67 of the 68 starters completed the course.

Army, with 31 points, won the team title with virtually the same lineup that captured the crown a year ago. Dick Greene took first in the first time of 24:42. John Jones and Lynn Bender filled the fifth and sixth spots, followed by Howie Roberts in eighth and Gene Wilson in 11th.

Paced by Tommy Carroll's ninth-place performance, Yale finished second with 76 points. Navy was third with 83, and Brown's 107 gave the Bruins fourth position.

The Big Red of Cornell totaled 129 points for fifth, and Dartmouth took sixth with 146. The varsity had 160 points for a safe edge over eighth-place Princeton. Penn and Columbia trailed.

Bob Lowe of Brown and Tom Laris of Dartmouth were even with Greene after three miles, but the cadet ace pulled away and won by 30 yards. Bob Kunkle of Navy was fourth behind Laris and Lowe.

Two big disappointments were Princeton's Mike Kingston and Penn's Earnest Tracy. Kingston, who won the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet last week, finished 26th, and Tracy, first against the Crimson and Columbia earlier this season, could do no better than 32nd.