Thinclads Prevail, Outrun B.C., 80-56

Yes, the Harvard men's indoor track team can win without All-American Adam Dixon. The Crimson overcame the absence of Dixon, jumper Gus Udo, and half-miler Brad Bunney, who injured his back just before the meet, and beat a pesky B.C. squad 80-56 last night at the ITT.

With so many key runners out with injuries, the Crimson thinclads needed some help and found it in the form of Dwayne Jones. Jones came in second in the 60 yd. dash with a time of 6.4 seconds, just behind teammate Jay Hudson and also anchored the victorious mile relay team, pulling up from behind to give Harvard the points it needed to secure the win.

However, Bruce Weber's victory in the 3000turned the meet around. B.C. had swept the 35 lb. weight throw, and was in the process of taking the long jump and the triple jump; things did not look good for the Crimson.

B.C. runner Fernando Bouz took the lead early in the 3000, followed closely by a Crimson trio of Weber, Peter Jelley and Andrew Gerken. It soon became a three-man race between Bouz, Weber, and Jelley, and coming into last lap, Bouz was first, with Weber trailing by a few steps. One hundred yards into the last lap, Weber picked up the speed and passed Bouz on the last turn, breaking away from him in the stretch. Weber finished the race with a time of 8:18.2, just nine-tenths of a second off the Harvard record.

"I didn't know it was going to be a fast time," Weber said. "I was just trying to stay with the leaders and then outkick them at the end."

Scott Murrer, who just finished up the football season, pulled out a come-from-behind victory in the 500. It wasn't until the final stretch that Murrer took the lead. With B.C. harrier Fred Kirk leading the pack, Murrer poured it on and came from fifth place to first, finishing neck and neck with Kirk, turning in a time of 1:05.4. Freshman Steve Ezeji-Okoye came in third at a 1:06.3 clip.

Just Lucky, I Guess

"I went out trying to find out how fast the pack was going," Murrer said, "As it turned out, it wasn't going that fast, and in the last 110 yards I still had enough strength to win. I really was just lucky."

The only race B.C. really dominated was the 1000, The Eagles took first and second, but Peter Johnson gave them a good race, pushing them until the very end. Crimson thinclad Paul McNulty took an early lead but relinquished it to Joe Concoran and Ross Muscato of B.C. early in the third lap. Johnson came from way back to challenge the B.C. duo but finished two-tenths of a second behind Muscato.

Although the meet was Harvard's for all practical purposes, the Eagle mile relay squad made the race close, and it wasn't until Jones' anchor run that the Crimson took the lead. The final time was 3:21.2, five seconds off the record, but Bennet Midlo predicts, "That mile relay record is is jeopardy this year."

THE NOTEBOOK: In the middle of the field events, the lights in the ITT went out, but the long jump and weight throw continued in the dark.