Harriers Earn Split With Lions and Quakers; Columbia Runners Sweep Top Three Places

As expected, the men's cross-country team split its tri-meet with Columbia and Penn yesterday afternoon on the Lions' five-mile course at Van Cortlandt Park.

A trio of Columbia harriers crossed the finish line together at 25:45 to ensure the Lions' 23-32 triumph over the Crimson, while Harvard's Bruce Weber, captain Adam Dixon and freshman Peter Jellie grabbed the next three spots, in 26:05, 26:05 and 26:07, to help the squad down the Quakers, 21-38.

Sophomores Andy Gerken and Paul McNulty both finished at 26:42, in 11th and 12th places, respectively.

Harvard's season record is now 2-1.

Exceptionally rugged terrain in the second mile of the course has historically plagued Crimson harriers, but the results from this year's trip to the Bronx were extremely encouraging. Both Dixon and McNulty ran two minutes faster than they did last year, and the Crimson top three finished strong despite the jack-rabbit pace set by the Lions at the outset.

The leaders went out in approximately 4:40 for the first mile-they ran in the 4:50s in last week's opener with Northeastern-and Coach Bill McCurdy was concerned that the early sprint combined with the afternoon heat would affect his team's performance.

"On hot days like this, runners are usually more cautious," McCurdy said later. "But we didn't rush the pace. It was those damn fool Columbia runners, and we just had to try to stay with them.

"At this stage, we weren't prepared to run as fast as they forced us to, but actually, I think the guys hung in there really well."