Harriers Regain Greater Boston Title, Lose to Big Red in Weekend Action

The Harvard cross country team proved its mettle yesterday in the Greater Boston Championships, rebounding from a weekend loss at Cornell and roundly defeating a strong Northeastern squad and five other area teams. The Crimson thus regained the title it had lost a year ago.

The harriers anticipated a strong battle from the Huskies whom they had narrowly defeated earlier in the year, but captain Ric Rojas sparked the squad to what Harvard coach Bill McCurdy termed "our strongest showing to date."

Rojas blitzed the Franklin Park course in 23:55, finishing 21 seconds ahead of Northeastern's Mike Buckley for first place. Buckley managed to stay with Rojas until the two-mile mark, but the Crimson's number one runner easily outclassed him over the remainder of the distance.

Rojas's individual effort, however, only highlighted Harvard's impressive team showing. The Crimson placed seven men in the top ten.

Jim Keefe captured third in 24:23, Andy Campbell was fifth in 24:34, and Karl Tsigdinos was a surprise in sixth at 24:39. Dirk Skinner, Jeff Brokaw and Jerry Hines finished eighth, ninth and tenth respective for Harvard.

"I was real happy with my race," said Rojas yesterday, "and I didn't expect the team to do that well, especially after the defeat at Cornell. We had some real clutch performances out there."

Harvard and Northeastern finished well ahead of the other Boston teams. Brandeis placed third with 97 points, Boston College tallied 107, Tufts had 141, MIT 160 and Boston University 166.

Although yesterday's race established Harvard as Boston's best, Saturday afternoon at Cornell was, not nearly as successful. Harvard went into the meet smarting from Ivy League defeats at the hands of Pennsylvania and Columbia and badly needed a win to bolster its spirits for the upcoming Ivy championships.

The Big Red, however, not only whipped the Crimson, 22-33, but defeated Ric Rojas for the first time this season. Cornell's Ray Demarco garnered top honors with an excellent clocking of 25:38. Rojas took second, a scant four seconds back.

Veered Off Course

His loss was understandable, however. He had taken the law boards earlier that morning and had not had a chance to scout the unfamiliar Cornell course. Leading early in the race, he veered off the course several times and lost precious seconds in his battle with Cornell's top man.

After Demarco and Rojas, only 20 seconds separated the next eight finishers. Bill Collins and Mark Curtis of Cornell staved off Harvard's Jeff Brokaw to place third and fourth. Jim Keefe took seventh, Andy Campbell ninth and Dirk Skinner tenth to round out the scoring for the Crimson.

"It was a well-run meet," said McCurdy, "and it could have gone either way."