Crimson Runners Second, Third at H-Y-P Meet; Sugrue Shines But Many Stumble With Flu Bug

Too bad you can't sick out of track meets.

Because if you could, the Harvard men's and women's track squads surely would have exercised that option--legitimately--this weekend.

Many of the Crimson's top runners had been sick all week, and were unable to prepare adequately for the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet which they knew would be a tough test.

But track meets don't work like exams, and the Crimson had no choice but to travel to New Jersey over the weekend, where it was run off the track by the Elis and the host Tigers.

For the women, postponing the meet would probably have made a difference, as the Crimson stayed close to the pace despite missing some key people (including distance star Jenny Stricker, who was at the World Cross Country Championships in Dallas). Harvard, with 48.5 points, finished second behind surprisingly strong Yale (62) and ahead of Princeton (37.5).

But merely waiting until its runners had recovered from illness would not have done the trick for the men. The Crimson registered only 25 points on the day, and finished far behind the Tigers (79) and the Bulldogs (66).

Although the women finished second "by picking up points here and there," in Co-Captain Theresa Moore's words, Harvard's effort was highlighted by strong individual performances in both the track and the field events.

Bamidele Fayemi and Carole Kirton again shone in the 60-yd. dash. Kirton took second with a time of 7.48 seconds, and Fayemi finished fourth. Kirton made it a day to remember by also running second in the 200-yd. dash, in 26.8.

Erin Sugrue had a day that she'll probably never forget. In the high jump competition, she finished second--barely--to Jane Buchan of Yale. Both Sugrue and Buchan were the only jumpers left in the competition after clearing 5-ft., 9-in., and immediately tried to clear the NCAA qualifying height of 5-ft., 11.25-in.

Neither could make that height, so meet officials declared a "jump-off." After several jumps, Sugrue missed at 5-ft., 7-in.--a height Buchan had cleared--giving Buchan the win.

But Sugrue had better luck in the triple jump. In only the second triple jump competition of her career, she soared 37-ft., 1.25-in, nearly a foot over the previous school record. To top the day off, she won the 55-meter hurdles.

"She's a stud," Moore said.

The Crimson women downplayed the loss to Yale, pledging to avenge it at Heps next weekend.

"We will be ready for Heps," Kurtin said. "It was so unexpected [that Yale beat Harvard]."

"The meet was close up until the relays," Sugrue added. "It was about a three-or four-point meet until the end."

The main problem that hampered the men this weekend is one which has plagued them throughout the indoor season. "Our front line is doing well," Co-Captain Doug Boyd said, "but our second-and third-places aren't."

Simply put, the Harvard men's squad lacks depth. In some events--most notably the middle distances--the Crimson can enter several strong performers in each race. But in other events, Harvard must put its hopes behind only one runner.

"The second-and third-place guys aren't running as well as they're capable of running," Boyd said. "They have a lot of talent, but need to develop confidence to take advantage of it."

Freshman Mark Foley--a second-place runner who has been running well--has been the exception throughout the season. At the GBCs, he took second in the mile run, and helped the two-mile relay to first place. At Dartmouth, he finished second in the 1000 meters to the Big Green's John McCright (last year's Heps winner). But he was sick with a common cold this weekend and had to drop out of the 3000, his only race.

Boyd said he wasn't particularly impressed by any individual's performance. "No one [on the Princeton or Yale squads] had great performances. We just had bad performances. We really got blown out."