Women Harriers Nab 8th At Nationals

It has been said that there are only three things to do in Pocotello, Idaho: 1) Go roller skating; 2) Ride a mechanical bull; and 3) Go bowling--the kind with pins; balls and score sheets.

There is one other activity in the small town, however--running--which the Harvard women's cross country team did with great proficiency Saturday when it placed eighth in the National AIAW 5000-Meter Championships on a soggy and challenging Highland Golf Course.

The Crimson's score of 198, a mere eight points shy of sixth place, makes it the first Ivy League team ever to crack the top ten in the history of the competition.

The Harvard harriers were led by the stellar performances of junior Darlene Beckford and freshman sensation Kate Wiley, who placed 19th and 25th with times of 18:27 and 18:34 respectively By placing among the top 25 of the 193 finishing runners. Beckford and Wiley were named to the Division I All-American team, making Harvard the first Ivy League school ever to have two team members on the honorary squad.

Now You See It

Wiley--who normally excels on hilly courses--was running laboriously after the first steep incline, and then was passed by Beckford on an uphill just short of the two-mile mark. Beckford then went on to pass numerous other runners on the flat downhill stretches in what coach John Babington called "one of the most exceptional races of her season."

Beckford, who had finished 90th and 36th in her previous two years in competition, said afterwards, she was surprised at how good she had felt during the race. "I was huffing and puffing after the first hill, but I had a lot left towards the end. In the past years I could have crawled across the finish line."

Also finishing the race for Harvard were freshman Jenny Stricker (55th, 19:02), senior captain Kristen Linsley (83rd, 19:28), senior Mary Herlihy (97th, 19:41); freshman Mary Jeanne Barrett (123rd, 20:04), and freshman Amy Simon (138th, 20:21).

Babington especially praised Herlihy's first attempt at national intercollegiate racing afterwards. "Mary was tough and aggressive--she definitely ran the best race of her life," he said.