Thinclads Take it Easy at GBCs; Look Forward to Heptagonals

The saying goes that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but in the case of the Harvard men's and women's track squads, third and fourth respectively at the Greater Boston Championships (GBCs), held at Boston College this weekend, it may be worth Heptagonal Championships next weekend.

With Adam Dixon, Cliff Sheehan, Kim Stevens, and Steve Ezeji-Okoye all sitting out to save themselves for the Heps, the men's version of the GBCs became a battle between defending champion Boston University and Northeastern, which Harvard beat last week in dual meets. The Terriers emerged victorious with a total of 106 points while Northeastern finished right behind with 102 and the Crimson finished a distant third with a total of 56.

For the women it was much the same story Sophomore Jenny Stricker competed only in the relay and Theresa Moore sat out Boston University took home the trophy with 98 points while Boston College. Northeastern and Harvard finished second, third, and fourth respectively.

Sheehan, Dixon, and Stricker were all resting--after their superb performances at the Penn Relays on Friday. Sheehan, Dixon, Dwayne Jones, and Brad Bunney finished second in the Distance Relay, turning in a time of 9:27.5, only three seconds over the world record, while Stricker finished second in the mile with 4:36, her best time of the season. Hammer thrower Al Quintero finished fourth at Penn on Friday with the best throw of his career and then went on to top it on Saturday at the GBCs.

While many of the thinclads sat out, those that were able to compete did quite well. Co-Captain Gus Udo won the long jump championship for the fourth year in a row. The two members of the medley relay squad who did compete--Jones and Bunney--each took second and Kate Wiley won the 1500 handily.

Despite these successes, the talk in the Crimson area of the stand was about this coming weekend and an outdoor, Heptagonal trophy to go with this winter's indoor one.