Crimson Track Team Slips by Northeastern For First-Place Finish in Jack Ryder Relays

The Crimson track team finished up the pre-season warm-ups Saturday by capturing the Boston College Jack Ryder Relays, shading second-place Northeastern by a half point. Twenty-five teams competed in the event, with Dartmouth finishing third followed by UMass and Boston College.

Harvard took only one first on the afternoon, in the meet's feature race, the two mile relay. The Crimson quartet of Wayne Curtis, Jim Springate, Joel Peters and Bill Okerman unseated defending champion Boston University, finishing with a time of 7:37.2.

The distance medley relay, which was supposed to be the Crimson's strongest event, was billed as a two-team race between B.C. and Harvard. But the Eagles came up with a meet and school record breaking time of 10:00.2, leaving the Crimson in the dust to finish a distant fifth.

Harvard faired poorly in the field events, not placing among the top five in either the pole vault, the high jump or the hammer. Jay Hughes, the Crimson shot putter, took fourth in that event. Vaulter Jim Kleiger and high jumper Mel Embree had disappointing afternoons.

Field Events

The Crimson grabbed seconds in the long jump and triple jump, a pair of fourth place finishes in the discus and shot and a third in the javelin. Springfield, which is strong in the field events, took an early lead in the meet, but that soon vanished as the running events were dominated by other schools. Springfield finished the meet in fifth place.

Harvard opens the regular season next Saturday at Princeton. If the Boston College Relays are any indication, the Crimson should have the depth to carry the squad to a successful season.