Track Team Favored To Keep Boston Title

After sparkling individual performances in the Penn Relays last weekend, Coach Bill McCurdy's track team is confident of retaining its title in the Greater Boston Championship held at Soldier's Field today and Wednesday.

Of the six other colleges entered in the meet, only Northeastern should pose any serious challenge to Harvard, McCurdy said yesterday. In the Greater Boston Indoor Championship in February, the Crimson had to win the last relay of the meet to squeeze by the Huskies, 64-60.

Harvard's superiority in the distance events, evident by two second-place finishes in last weekend's Penn Relays, should give the Crimson a substantial edge over Northeastern.

In the mile, Royce Shaw and Jim Baker will continue their assault on the four-minute mile. Baker blazed to a 4:04 relay leg at Penn, while Shaw was timed a tenth of a second slower.

McCurdy said the two-mile would be one of the meet's closest races. Harvard's Doug Hardin and Tim McLoone will encounter stiff challenges from M.I.T.'s Ben Wilson and B.U.'s Peter Hoss.

The Crimson should have a field day in the throwing events. Dick Benka, the foremost shotputter in the East, last weekend shattered the Harvard record he had set a month ago by over a foot with a heave of 58' 10 1/2".

Cavanaugh a threat

In the discuss and hammer, muscleman Ron Wilson will have to battle B.C.'s Jim Cavanaugh for top honors. Although Wilson took second in the discus at Penn with a toss of 165' 1 1/2", Cavanaugh has hurled the discus 165'.

Sophomore Jim Coleman should be Harvard's chief threat in the jumping events. Coleman has cleared 6'5" this season in the high jump.

McCurdy expects pole vaulter Steve Schoonover to rebound after a disappointing 14' performance at Penn with a vault of over 15 feet.