Crimson Runners Face Tough Foes in Heptagonals; Hewlett or Byard Should Win Individual Title

Walt Hewlett and the Harvard cross-country team are out for revenge in today's Heptagonal meet in New York City. The Hops to be run over New York's Van Courtland Park course, will match runners from the eight Ivy League schools, plus Army and Navy.

Neither Hewlett nor the Crimson squad has been beaten since Brown and Cornell swept a triangular meet from the Harvard runners October 12. Cornell's Jim Byard trotted home first, ahead of Hewlett by 23 seconds, and the Big Red squad, with 37 points, beat out Brown with 39 and Harvard with 45.

The Crimson team was in a virtual state of shock after the meet. Captain Ed Meehan had finished seventh, his worst performance in any meet for more than a year, and junior star Bill Crain stumbled home ninth.

But the team that will run for Harvard today is much stronger than the one that lost the triangular meet. Both Crain and Meehan displayed their best form of the season in the Big Three meet last Friday, Crain running a strong third and Meehan setting a killing pace and still hanging on to take fourth.

Don Burwell, a sophomore, also turned in his top performance to take fifth place, and Dave Allen and John Ogden were close behind him.

The performances of this "Little Three" will probably decide the Crimson's finish. The "Big Three" of Hewlett, Meehan and Crain can be counted on to finish near the top, but Brown, Cornell, and defending champion Navy have shown great depth all year. Harvard's first five men will probably have to finish in the top twenty if the Crimson is to win.

Brown Favered

The favorite is the meet has to be Brown, simply on the basis of its superior depth. Like Harvard, the Bruins have a 7-1 season record, marred only by their two-point loss to Cornell. Their greater depth should pay off in today's meet.

Cornell has the individual favorite in Byard, who hasn't been beaten this year. If anyone does come in ahead of him, it might be teammate Steve Machooka, the IC4A champion two years ago. Machooka took the year off last year but has been improving with every race this season.

Navy, a team without an individual star, could take the meet the same way it did last year, when no Midshipman placed higher than tenth, but four followed in the next seven places.

No other team has a chance for the team title, but Army's veteran Bill Straub has to be considered an individual threat. Ray Somers of Princeton, Jeff Sidney of Yale, and improving Lee Danker of Dartmouth are also good bets to break into the top ten naishers.

But the chances are good that everyone in the race may have to watch Walt Hewlett's running form from the rear. The Crimson sophomore has been turning in sensational times all year, the latest coming in the Big Three meet when he finished just three seconds off Bobby Mack's Yale course record despite running over a muddy course on a rainy day. If Hewlett has a good day, he could breeze home on top