Runners Eye Fifth Victory Against Yale

Harvard's varsity track team will try to nail down a perfect season Saturday when it travels to Yale for a tradition-filled meet. The Crimson is now 4-0 in dual meet competition and has also captured the Greater Boston and Heptagonal championships.

A Saturday victory, however, is not foregone conclusion. Yale is talent-rich in the running events and could easily sweep the sprints. If the Bulldogs can also manage to take a bite out of Harvard's expectedly large point total in the field events, it could be disastrous for the Crimson.

Harvard coach Bill McCurdy is fully aware of the importance that the field events will play in Saturday's meet, and is confident his men can do the job.

"We expect to win the meet because I've been taking good care of [field coach] Ed Stowell this week," he said. Stowell's field crew picked up 41 of the Crimson's 67 1/3 points in last week's Heptagonal victory.

Close Meet

"Of course, it should be a very close meet," McCurdy said. "But if we can pick up our expected total in the field events, and hold our own in the distance events we should have a good chance," he added. He listed the distance events, discus, and jumping events as those which would be the most accurate indicators of the meet's outcome.

Yale's Frank Shorter and Steve Bittner took first place in two of the three distance events in the Heps, and Shorter also finished second behind Harvard's Roy Shaw in a photo-finish mile. Shaw will run in the mile again Saturday and will team up with Keith Colburn in an effort to stop Bittner in the 880-yard run.

Shorter will be the favorite in the two-mile, where he topped Crimson runners Dave Pottetti and Tim McLoone last week.

Jump Events

In the triple jump, the Crimson's Walter Johnson will be instrumental in trying to wrestle points away from Yale's Kwaku Ohene-Frempong, who edged Johnson in the Heps. If Eli football star Calvin Hill doesn't compete in the meet--he hasn't competed this season--the Crimson's Bob Galliers will be the broad jump favorite. If Hill does participate, however, he could pick up important points in both broad and triple jump for the Elis.

The discus is the only weight event in which Yale will be a threat. Its top man in the event, Tom Neville, has thrown the platter past the 170-foot mark this season, further than any Crimson thrower. Harvard captain Dick Benka, however, edged Neville for second place in the Heps with a throw of 169 ft. 1 in., barely a foot shy of Neville's best career throw.

Weighty Affairs

Led by Benka, Charlie Ajootian, Ed Nosal, and Richard Szaro, the Crimson is expected to dominate the rest of the weight events, but Yale should have an effective counterpunch with its running superiority, especially in the dashes.

This will be the 73rd outdoor meet between the two schools in a series which began in 1891. The Crimson holds a razorthin 36-35-1 edge, primarily on the strength of having won 12 of the past 15 meets. Last year's thrilling 79-75 victory was Harvard's fifth straight over the Elis.