Crimson Runners Stomp Dartmouth; Allen Sets Hanover Course Record

Dave Allen set a course record and the Harvard cross-country team took 11 of the first 13 places in a 16-47 demolition job at Dartmouth yesterday.

Jim Baker, Bob Stempson, and Joe Ryan followed the Crimson captain across the finish line before the first Indian runner, sophomore Steve Atwood, struggled home. You might say it was a typical Harvard-Dartmouth meet.

The day's only disappointment was Walt Hewlett. Unimpressive in his earlier showings this year, the erstwhile legend had broken all his old records in practice this week. He came to Hanover ready to run, but pulled up with a muscle strain 200 yards from the start and dropped out of the race.

With Hewlett on the sidelines, Baker breezed into the lead, followed by Allen, Atwood, Stempson, and Ryan. Allen pushed past Baker around the three-mile mark, and Ryan and Stempson dropped the Indian runner to the rear of the quintet with a surge a half mile farther on.

Jim Smith was the fifth Harvard scorer, finishing 0:14 behind Atwood.

Allen's clocking, 24:34, broke the old mark by a respectable nine seconds and erased any doubt that the Crimson captain is a truly first-class runner. He just missed the Cornell course record at Ithaca last weekend.

Stempson's finish eased some fears that a leg injury suffered two weeks ago might keep the sophomore from fulfilling the promise of the Providence and Northeastern meets.

Hewlett? It's hard to say. He really did work hard this week and seemed on the verge of breaking out of his doldrums. The muscle pull may keep him from practicing for a while and might keep him out of next week's Big Three meet. But most important of all, it may make it even harder for him to build up the mental attitude that guided him through his fantastic season last fall when he won every meet, the Heps, and finished second in the IC4A's and fifth in the Nationals.