Runners Should Beat Princeton

The cross-country team faces its toughest test since the Brown meet when it travels to Princeton tomorrow to take on the Tigers and Yale.

The Big Three meet is really a Big Two meet this year. The Bulldogs are just going along for the ride. But Princeton has an impressive bunch of sophomores, the home course advantage, and a strong desire to show the skeptics that Harvard is not the only prestige school that can field good cross-country teams.

"They'll be up for this one; no doubt about it," said Crimson coach Bill McCurdy. "But I'm optimistic. Our boys are in the best shape they've been in all year."

Sophomore Sensations

It's a lucky thing, because the Tigers aren't merely resorting to press release cliches when they talk about sophomore sensations. Allen Andreini, who beat Jim Baker and Bob Stempson in last year's freshman meet, heads up the contingent of second-year men.

Bob Todd, Bill Schoen, Pete Bradley, and Tom Rieder are four other fresh faces who could give Harvard fits.

Rob Endicatt, a superb freshman miler last spring, hasn't developed quickly as a distance man, but those who watched him in May aren't likely to count him out of the running.

Two upper-classmen, Rich Geisel and Pete Taylor, lend some experience to this bunch, though neither has proved himself in days gone by to be in the Dave Allen-Walt Hewlett class.

Comparative scores are little help to of this encounter. The many common toes have been Columbia and Penn, who tackled both Harvard and Princeton in triangular meets.

The Crimson victory was the meet impressive, but who's to say the Tigers vote running all out? Allen, in third place, was the top Harvard finisher in the Quaker-Lion meet, while Andreini, in fourth place behind Penn's Radcliffe Thompson, was the low scorer for the Tigers.

Reason for Optimism

McCurdy has reason for his optimism. This week the squad was very impressive in practice for the second week in a row. Baker and Allen were their usual fluid selves, and Bob Stempson showed that the minor leg injury he suffered three weeks ago is a minor one.

Walt Hewlett, who pulled up at Dartmouth with a muscle strain, worked hard this week but his condition is questionable. "I was encouraged," McCurdy said. "At least Hewlett was able to walk away from the workout. But it's impossible to say how strong he will be by Friday."

The Crimson victory was the meet impressive, but who's to say the Tigers vote running all out? Allen, in third place, was the top Harvard finisher in the Quaker-Lion meet, while Andreini, in fourth place behind Penn's Radcliffe Thompson, was the low scorer for the Tigers.

Reason for Optimism

McCurdy has reason for his optimism. This week the squad was very impressive in practice for the second week in a row. Baker and Allen were their usual fluid selves, and Bob Stempson showed that the minor leg injury he suffered three weeks ago is a minor one.

Walt Hewlett, who pulled up at Dartmouth with a muscle strain, worked hard this week but his condition is questionable. "I was encouraged," McCurdy said. "At least Hewlett was able to walk away from the workout. But it's impossible to say how strong he will be by Friday."