Crimson Thinclads Challenge Northeastern Today

The bubbleless Crimson thinclads will challenge Boston rival Northeastern tonight at the Huskies' Cage for the mythical city championship.

But unlike pushovers Boston College and Boston university the Huskies could provide some real running competition. "They are undoubtedly the strongest team we have met and they should have a slight edge on us because of their home field advantage, and their extra practice time," acting head coach Edgar Stowell said yesterday.

Even with these advantages, the Huskies will have a tough time challenging Harvard in the field events. Besides the usual Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace exploits, the Crimson's Jim Kleigar will probably be able to hold his own in the pole vault, and Mel Embree looks a bit on the insurmountable side in the high jump.

But in the 35-lb. shotput Jay Hughes may run into some difficulty handling the Huskies' Degresse, who has already thrown in the 60-ft. range.

In the running department Coach Bob Hunt said he forsees the Crimson coming out ahead against the Huskies. "With Northeastern the meets either go down to the relays or we clobber them, we'll just have to wait and see," he said.

Aside from the 600, where the Crimson's Nick Leone should lead a sweep, Harvard could be in for a rough time. The Northeastern distance corps. featuring rick Buckley and John Flanders, could give Ric Rojas a little competition in the mile and the two mile.

The Huskies' Graham and Hickey look like sure things in the 1000. Both men have placed in past Greater Boston competition. Northeastern is also favored in the dash and the hurdles.

If the meet should be decided by the relays, Harvard should pull out a victory in the mile relay. But Northeastern's two-mile team has several low 1:50's men, and chances of a Crimson win in that event appear slim.

Stowell said he does not see the situation with Crimson's temporary housing problem causing any problems against Northeastern. "Using Briggs Cage hasn't really hurt us, and tonight it could be an advantage because Northeastern's track is shaped similarly to ours," he said.

Hunt said he believed the cage could even give the runners a psychological edge. "When you run on an inferior facility you tend to really move when you get on a first-class track," he said.

The situation is still uncertain regarding the building of a new bubble, but Stowell indicated that it might not have collapsed if Coach Bill McCurdy hadn't gone on leave. "It just had no collapse without all his hot air around," he said.