Northeastern Beats Harvard for GBC Title

Northeastern broke the Harvard track team's eight year monopoly on the Greater Boston Track Crown Saturday with a display of the sort of depth which had long been Harvard's trademark in the meet.

The final score was Northeastern 94, Harvard 67, Tufts 36, Boston College 30, MIT 21, Boston University 16 and Brandeis 8.

"They just had more strength than we did," said assistant coach Pappy Hunt who is running the team in the absence of head coach Bill McCurdy. "They have the greatest track team they've ever had," Hunt added. "They had the depth this year, and we didn't."

The statistics bear him out. Northeastern took six first places to Harvard's five, and five seconds to Harvard's four. But the Huskies beat the Thinclads in third places 8-2. Since third place is worth three points in the GBC's, this margin gave Northeastern an insurmountable 24-6 edge.

Northeastern's biggest win came in the 600 where Paul Horrigan set a meet record of 1:11.0. In a surprisingly strong performance, Harvard's freshman John Maggio took fifth place in 1:14.3.

According to Hunt, the "turning point" in the meet came in the 880. With 1 1/2 laps to go, the Crimson's Bob Clayton fell as he was going to the outside in a bid for the lead. The Northeastern runner who tripped him was disqualified, but Clayton was forced out of the race. BU's Tom Beatty went on to win the race in 1:56.1, with Harvard's Jere Hines taking fifth in 2:00.1.

Clayton came back in the 2 mile relay. Running as anchor man, he was clocked at 1:52.2, "the fastest half-mile time this year," according to Hunt.

High Point

The high point in the meet for the Crimson came in the medley relay in which the team of Hines, Mike Murr, Jim Hughes and Bobby Seals set a meet and facility record of 10:13.3.

Another high point for the Crimson was the double victory of sophomore Leon Sharpe in the long and triple jumps.

Other Harvard winners included Bud Wilson, who took the 440 in 50.4, and Joe Naughton, who won the shot put with a throw of 52 feet 11 1/4 inches.

Dan Moynihan of Tufts took the Most Outstanding Performer award with wins in the mile and two-mile runs, and a strong anchor leg in the two-mile relay. In the two-mile, he set a new meet and facility record in 8:49.2. Harvard's Mike Koerner and Ric Rojas took second and third respectively.

Harvard felt the loss of Nick Leone in the 600. Out with an ankle injury, Leone will be unable to compete until the spring.