Dartmouth Depth Edges Out Harriers

Dartmouth gave new meaning to "The Deep" yesterday afternoon as it handed the Crimson women harriers their first Ivy League defeat, 25-32.

No one would complain about the day, a beautiful crisp fall afternoon, or the course, a three-mile trek through the Hanover golf course, or even Harvard's performance. Darlene Beckford did the predictable, winning the race in a mere 17:00, one second shy of the course record.

Beckford's running mate, hard-working Kristen Linsley, came home soon thereafter for a second-place finish in 17:13. The tandem finished a good 20 seconds ahead of the nearest green jersey.

But when the Big Green finally did appear on the horizon, there wasn't one but five galloping together toward the finish line, grabbing third through seventh place and the match with them.

Deja Vu

The meet had an aura of deja vu for the harriers, who lost last week to UNH (their only other loss of the season) in precisely the same manner, with Beckford and Linsley grabbing first and second (the two are undefeated this season) but then conceding the next four or five slots to the opposition.

When the harriers finally returned to Cambridge, 12 hours later, exhausted, senior harrier Maureen Devlin summed up the day's events. "It was a beautiful day, a really nice course. We had a good day too, they just run faster," she said.

The harriers host the Greater Boston Championships Tuesday in Franklin Park and hope to retain the title they have held the last few years.