Trackmen Wind Up Fifth

Harvard men's track coach Bill McCurdy summed it all up yesterday: "We had as many points on the sidelines as we had on the field."

The thinclads' fifth-place finish in Saturday's Heptagonal meet was not as bad as it sounds, because ten teams, not seven, participated. But, as McCurdy said, "It broke my heart to see all those guys cheering instead of puffing."

The tracksters were without seven key performers during the windswept meet. Penn captured its eighth title in nine years with 62.5 points, 12 more than defending champ Cornell. Army and Navy fought fiercely to edge the thinclads, who notched 37 points.

As usual, the tracksters registered several formidable performances at the Providence, R.I., competition, especially in the field events.

Joe Pellegrini shattered a 30-year-old record by heaving the discus 181 ft., 4 in., toppling the previous mark by over three feet and outdistancing Saturday's pretenders by over five feet.

In the intense hammer throw event, trackman Tom Lenz grabbed third with a splendid toss of 208 ft., 2 in.

The Crimson's Gary Quantock finished third in the highly competitive shot put, evidence of his steady improvement this season.

"If anyone had told me Gary would be third in the Heps at the beginning of the year. I would locked him up and thrown the key away," McCurdy said.

Geoff Stiles won the pole vault, clearing 15 ft., 10 in., and reaffirming his status as the best vaulter in the East. "It's easy to get ho-hum about Stiles winning something," McCurdy commented.

Unsung Dave Kinney, who has had a tough time scoring points this season, came up with a clutch showing in the javelin, taking third with a throw of 220 ft., 1 in.

Consistent Eddie Sheehan had a good day, scoring in both the 5000 and 10,000-meter races. Pete Fitzsimmons took second in the steeplechase, and Thad McNulty snatched third in the 1500, despite coming home two seconds slower than last week.

In what McCurdy called "as good a race as he has run all year," All-American John Chafee finished second, blistering home just behind Brown's speed demon Osman Lake.

Neither of the Crimson's relay teams managed to score, but both patched-up squads came close despite the injury-depleted ranks.

Yale, the Crimson's opponents next weekend, wound up in last place with three (count 'em) points.

Saturday's dual meet with Yale will decide who from the two squads will travel to England this June to face a combined Oxford-Cambridge squad. McCurdy said his strategy in New Haven will be to win the meet first, and let individual matters take care of themselves. "We don't want to lose the team concept," he said.

Geoff Stiles won the pole vault, clearing 15 ft., 10 in., and reaffirming his status as the best vaulter in the East. "It's easy to get ho-hum about Stiles winning something," McCurdy commented.

Unsung Dave Kinney, who has had a tough time scoring points this season, came up with a clutch showing in the javelin, taking third with a throw of 220 ft., 1 in.

Consistent Eddie Sheehan had a good day, scoring in both the 5000 and 10,000-meter races. Pete Fitzsimmons took second in the steeplechase, and Thad McNulty snatched third in the 1500, despite coming home two seconds slower than last week.

In what McCurdy called "as good a race as he has run all year," All-American John Chafee finished second, blistering home just behind Brown's speed demon Osman Lake.

Neither of the Crimson's relay teams managed to score, but both patched-up squads came close despite the injury-depleted ranks.

Yale, the Crimson's opponents next weekend, wound up in last place with three (count 'em) points.

Saturday's dual meet with Yale will decide who from the two squads will travel to England this June to face a combined Oxford-Cambridge squad. McCurdy said his strategy in New Haven will be to win the meet first, and let individual matters take care of themselves. "We don't want to lose the team concept," he said.