Crimson Aquamen Move Out To 130-Point Lead In Quest of 8th Straight Eastern Championship

The sign in the locker room read, "Doubters go home."

And by the end of last night's competition at the Eastern Seaboard Championships, there probably wasn't a single doubter within 50 miles of Blodgett Pool, as the Harvard men's swimming team moved out to a nearly insurmountable two-day lead of 130 points.

With only one day of competition remaining, the Crimson stands head-and-shoulders the other 32 teams competing with 378 points. Princeton is holding on to the second spot with 249 points, while Penn State owns the third-place total of 227.

Should Harvard maintain its lead and win today, it would mark the eighth consecutive Eastern championships for the aquamen, tying a record set by Yale from 1963-70.

Harvard Coach Joe Bernal was more than pleased with his team's showing yesterday, but knows that it has other things to prove before the meet's conclusion tonight.

"In the first two days of the meet, we simply did what we had to do," Bernal said. "It is important, however, that we finish the meet with the same quality performances that we have had until now."

In building on its lead from Thursday, the Crimson won two races, finished second in three others and placed no lower than third in any event.

Leading the way for Harvard was Dave Berkoff, who won the 100-yd. backstroke and in the process broke the Harvard, Blodgett Pool and Eastern Seaboard meet records with his time of 48.79 seconds. Princeton's Richard Hughes finished second in a time of 49.48.

In addition to Berkoff, the Crimson placed two other swimmers in the top seven for the backstroke, with Jeff Peltier gaining fourth and Dan Simkowitz earning seventh.

The other Harvard win came in the 800 freestyle relay, in which the team of Peter Egan, John Ritch, John Pearson and Chris Smith bested second-place Princeton by over two seconds with its winning time of 6:37.65.

Ron Karnaugh of LaSalle triumphed in the 400 individual medley, breaking the meet record with a time of 3:53.25. Harvard's Peltier finished a strong second, and his time of 3:56.24 qualifyed him for the NCAA championships next month in Indianapolis.

Also scoring for the Crimson in the event were Bill Bird in fifth place, Paul Ryder in ninth, and Lars Reierson finishing 10th.

Temple's Steve Smutney won the 100 butterfly with a time of 48.86 seconds. Egan of Harvard tied for second in the race with Penn State's Jay Mahoney, both finishing in 48.99.

Dan Veatch of Princeton, who narrowly lost Thursday's 500 freestyle to Egan, made amends by winning the 200 freestyle in 1:38.35. The Tigers could not capitalize on the win, however, because a wave of Crimson swimmers followed him--Ritch in third place, Pearson in fourth, Smith earning fifth and Bill Cleveland 16th.

John Van Sant of Army picked up his second win of the meet in the 100 breaststroke. Van Sant, Thursday's champion in the 200 individual medley, finished the breaststroke in a record time of 55.62 seconds. Harvard's Scott Hoy gained the second position in 56.13, with both times good enough to beat NCAA qualifying standards.

While the meet may be nearly over on the scoreboard, don't expect the Crimson to come out today and sit on its 100-plus point cushion. Just ask Bernal.

"By the time the last relay gets started, the meet might be over," Bernal said. "The race will mean nothing in the standings, but personal pride will be at stake."

Considering that the final race will be the 400 freestyle relay, the same relay that cost Harvard an undefeated season when Princeton and Cornell won it in consecutive weeks last month, there will be no shortage of pride tonight.