Stricker Leads Women Harriers to Victory

NEW YORK--Harvard senior Jenny Stricker led a balanced attack as the Harvard women's cross country team raced to a fifth consecutive Heptagoannl championship here at Van Cortlandt Park yesterday.

Stricker easily outsdistanced the rest of the field to win the five kilometer event in 17:15. The time was the third-best ever run at Heps, eclipsing Stricker's 1982 time by one second.

Kristin Perini ran a very strong race for the Crimson to place third overall and the Crimson received outstanding performances from Lois Brommer, Katie Toner and Leslie Cooper, who finished 10th, 14th and 20th restpectively.

The Crimson survived a strong challenge form Dartmouth which placed second with 56 points, six behind Harvard.

"I think they were fotunate to have won," Harvard Coach Ed Sheehan said. "The top four ran their best races of the season. We'll need more help from the other five."

Stricker went for the lead from the start. At 1/2 mile she was running alone and by the one-mile mark, she had a 10-second lead over the rest of the field.

The Crimson benefitted from other excelleent individual performances as well.

Lois Brommer, who had been on the sidelines for most of the season with mononucleoisis, passed two runners in the final 100 meters to help secure the victory for Harvard and to earn herself All-Ivy honors.

Perini was back in form after suffering a mid-season injury and her time of 17:32 was a personal best.

Freshman Toner ran by far her best race of the season.

Harvard's aggressive running in the first part of the race paid off, but the Crimson's five through seven runners will have to stay closer, if the squad is to do well as Easterns in two weeks.

"The women need to be more aggressive in a big meet field," Sheehan said. "Everyone will have to be at their best to beat B.C."

B.C. beat Harvard at the Greater Boston Championships earlier this season.

"I think were the best team [in the East]," Sheehan said. "We'll have to prove it, though."

The top three runners and the top team at Easterns advance to the NCAA meet at the end of November. If all goes well for Harvard, both Stricker and Perini have excellent chances to qualify as individuals and the team may do the same.