Stricker Pushes Women Harriers to HYP Victory

British Olympian Zola Budd is famous for running barefoot.

Harvard senior Jenny Stricker may not have Budd's reputation yet, but she might soon.

The Crimson runner didn't have enough time to get her racing shoes before yesterday's Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet at Franklin Park, but that didn't hurt her performance as she led Harvard to its sixth straight Big Three title--seventh in nine years.

"I had a lab meeting that got out at 1:15, and the bus was supposed to leave at 1:20," Stricker said. "The run from down to Dillon is 15 minutes."

In the hustle to make the bus, Stricker forgot to bring her racing shoes and had to do without in the race.

But, even in training flats, Stricker broke from the pack early and cruised to an easy victory in 18:23 for the five-kilometer course.

Stricker wasn't the only Cantab who excelled yesterday.

Kristin Perini bounced back from a back injury to snag second place in 18:35, and six other Crimson harriers finished in the top 12.

"It was great to see all those crimson shirts," said Harvard freshman Katie Toner, who finished ninth (19:20). "We wanted to get as many people with in their [Yale's] top girl."

Yale's Kelly Groteke and Laura Paddock managed to get in the Crimson pack, but Harvard was too deep for the Elis, who entered the meet with a 5-1 record.

Yale's showing yesterday surprised the Crimson.

"We were expecting Yale to go out really aggressively, but they didn't," said Jody Dushay (sixth place, 18:52).

The victory impressed Harvard Coach Ed Sheehan and convinced him that the Crimson women will be nearly unbeatable next week at the Heptagonal Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in New York.

"Competitively, you can't ask any more from the women," Sheehan said. "They ran a super race. I'm confident they're going to win substantially at Heps."