Thinclads Triumph, Retain GBC Laurels

When at long last the weeks of damp misery receded yesterday and spring became something more than a name, the men's track team rose to the occasion, soundly defeating six opponents to win the Greater Boston Championships (GBC) yesterday at Boston College for the second consecutive year.

The thinclads captured the title after overcoming an eight--point lead which Northeastern accumulated on the first day of the weekend meet. When the last Brandeis straggler finally crossed the line in the 1600 relay, the thickly accented voice of the Boston College announcer told a story quite different form the previous day.

The final score was Harvard 100, B. U. 79, Northeastern 70 and the rest increasingly far behind in the haze.

The afternoon witnessed a number of personal and meet records for Crimson tracksters.

Leading the pack of thinclad victories was Adam Dixon, who, in his first outdoor meet of the season, doubled in the 1500-and 800-meter events, setting new GBC records in both. In the latter event Dixon loped out of the pack in the first half lap and never looked back on the way to a 1:49.3 mark.

Following Dixon's example in the art of rewriting records, Kim Stephens bettered a personal record he notched in the 400-meter hurdles at the Penn Relays on Friday when he blazed a 51.8 in the event. Stephen's mark tied the GBC record, held by B.U.'s Bob Danville, who arrived a half second behind Stephens at the finish to take second place.

Perhaps the most memorable of all the thinclad performances at the GBC did not, however, win any gold. Still plagued with the Achilles tendon problems that have prevented him from competing for months, team co-captain John Murphy ran the 10,000 meters in the drizzle Saturday and the 5000 meters Sunday. Murphy, who asked to run the 10,000 since otherwise the Crimson would go unrepresented in the event, took fourth place with a time of 30:57.9 and thereby added two points to the Crimson tally. The performance appeared all the more incredible because the only training Murphy could do for the event was a short workout Wednesday.

"I've just spent so much time and frustration getting back into it all and I really felt a responsibility as captain to get out there and run," Murphy said yesterday.

In the field events the thinclads also accumulated a horde of points. Competing in the long jump, the triple jump and the high jump. Renaissance man Gus Udo captured first, second and third place honors respectively.

And if awards are being handed out, the most stoic competitor trophy goes without a doubt to Eric Schuler. Running in the 5000 meters. Schuler seemed to have the race wrapped up as he rounded the final turn with several yards between him and B.U.'s Dave Vona.

But Vona's kick proved formidable, and the two appeared locked in a dead heat at the wire. Though their times were identical and the B.C. facilities lacked the standard photo-finish apparatus, the officials awarded the first to Vona as Schuler impassively packed away his track shoes.