Harriers Go After Ninth Consecutive GBC Conquest Today at Franklin Park

There are certain kinds of monopolies which are not prohibited by law. Public utilities can have monopolies. So can the railroads. And so can the Harvard track team.

The Harriers are going after their ninth consecutive victory in the Greater Boston Championships today at Franklin Park, and the chances are good that they'll win.

The red hot Crimson squad expects a strong challenge from Northeastern, despite a 20-36 victory over the Huskies whom they defeated in the season opener. Northeastern has improved since then, notching seven victories in a row. Last Friday, the Huskies shut out Boston College, 15-40.

"We expect it will be a tough race," Harvard coach Bill McCurdy said yesterday. "The course almost guarantees that it will go out fast. Northeastern always runs tough in that sort of race, going out with the gun."

All this said, the Harvard squad--which beat Penn and handily defeated Cornell--shouldn't have too much of a problem.

Only seven runners from each school can compete. For Harvard, the decision of who was to run was made on the basis of the Dartmouth meet last Saturday.

Maximum Feasible

Harvard's top man, Ric Rojas, could get some serious competition from Tuft's Dan "Maximum Feasible Speed" Moynihan. Moynihan benignly neglected the rest of the competition last year to break the GBC record in 23:55. Moynihan is also the IC4A college division champ. And last Saturday, he won the Eastern's small college championship.

In the GBCs last year, Rojas finished seventh, but that performance was not indicative of his potential. Rojas had just come off a long layoff, and he ran only to help Harvard salvage its 36-48 victory over second place Northeastern.

Northeastern's top runner is Billy Rowe, and he could give Moynihan and Rojas some competition. But Rojas soundly defeated Rowe on opening day, 24:12.5 to 24:48.

So the battle should be between Rojas and Moynihan, and both could break last year's record.

Other Harvard contenders include captain John Quirk, freshman Bill Durrette, seniors Marsh Jones and Andy Campbell, and the two sophomore Jims--Hughes and Keefe.

All the Harvard runners are in top condition with the exception of Keefe, who has missed several practices due to bad health. Should any of Harvard's runners be questionable, freshman Carl Tsiginnis will be ready to fill the gap.

Comparative

Both Harvard and Northeastern have good depth. But in comparisons between performances against common opponents. Harvard comes out on top across the board. Northeastern downed Providence 21-38, but Harvard took the Friars 20-38. Harvard smashed UMass, 18-39, while the Huskies could only manage a 25-30 win. And against Dartmouth, Northeastern was victorious, 19-37, while Harvard de-chiorophylled the Big Green, 16-45.

Of the expected also-rans, Tufts, which finished third last year, appears the strongest. Boston College usually fields a decent squad, but the drubbing the Eagles took at the hands of the Huskies last week may belie serious weekness.