Captain Nemo Leads Harriers From No-Man's Land

As a freshman four years ago, Mark Meyer just barely made the junior varsity cross country team; he managed that only "because the squad was unlimited -- we didn't cut anyone," Coach Bill McCurdy said yesterday.

Today he is the captain of the varsity and a consistent top-three finisher for a Crimson team that is favored to win the heptagonals this weekend.

Ranked 11th in the state of Ohio before coming to Cambridge, Meyer did not make a big impact on the running program at Harvard immediately. In fact, McCurdy couldn't even remember his name for a while.

"I never noticed him much back then," said McCurdy. "I only knew him as the kid who always came to practice with the skinny little red-headed fellow (teammate Ed Sheehan)."

It was not until Meyer won the three-mile race in an outdoor track meet against Yale in 1976 that he began to come into his own. With that victory, Meyer qualified for the Harvard-Yale combined team in the meet with Oxford and Cambridge, but he did not participate because of the first of a series of ankle sprains that kept him out of competition for almost all of his junior year.

Recovering from the ankle ailments for most of last year, the diminutive Meyer spent a frustrating season watching his teammates limp through a disastrous year.

"Sometimes when you're really downhearted from injuries and all, you say why in God's name am I doing this?" Meyer said, "But I think about competing and winning and it keeps me going."

Overcoming the pain and difficulties is, at least for Meyer, where the gratification enters. "Cross country is such a challenge," he said. "I think it's much more demanding and intense than track, or any other sport I've ever participated in."

"There's the inevitable problems of pain, hills, and the other runners that you have to face up to every time you run -- you know that you're going to have to deal with them every time you compete. How you handle them is what cross country is all about," he added.

This year, at any rate, Meyer is handling the problems with relative ease. His exceptional showing has been a pleasant surprise for McCurdy and company. "I don't think anybody thought he'd run as well as he has been," teammate Thad McNulty said yesterday, "and that includes Mark himself."

As a result of his strong performances so far this season, Meyer has set a personal goal for himself for the first time since high school days -- a place on the all-Ivy team.

"In high school I used to set all kinds of goals, but the competition is so much keener in college that I changed my motivation. I just try to get in as good condition as possible and then do the best I can in competition," he said.

But winning is definitely important to Captain Nemo, as Meyer has been dubbed in honor of his pet snake, and his greatest contribution to the team may be in this area. "Mark is a winner," senior team member Guy McRoskey said, "and his attitude has rubbed off on the rest of the team."

McCurdy calls Meyer's ability to rally and inspire the squad an "amazing force," as a captain, and attributes the very special spirit of the Harvard harriers in large part to Meyer's leadership.

"I never considered being a leader until this year, but it gives running in a meet a whole different dimension," Meyer said. "Instead of thinking about my chances of making it over the third hill, I find myself worrying about Murphy's ankle and Fitzie's knees and whether or not they will make it."

Meyer, who is bound for the University of Cincinnati medical school next fall, would like to keep running competitively in marathons and road races, unless the rigors of med school dictate otherwise.

"Cross country has been the greatest of my experiences at Harvard." Meyer said, "with Chem 20 not even a close second."