Thinclads Humbled at Heps Championships

Yesterday, the Harvard women's and men's track teams finished seventh and eighth, respectively, at the Heps championships held in Providence, R.I.

In the women's competition, sophomore Meredith Rainey was named Outstanding Performer of the women's meet. She won the 400 meters with a time of 54.2 seconds to quality for the NCAA championships and the Olympic trials. Rainey also anchored the winning mile relay that included Beth Pfefferle, Co-Captain Nancy Lutz and Carol Kirton.

"With a young lady like Meredith it's easy to take for granted the amazing competitor that she is," Co-Captain Paul Mayer said. "She consistently runs championship-caliber performances and her attitude is good. She's a big inspiration for the men and women."

Harvard's 1600-meter relay team also set a Heps meet record, finshing in 3:47.29.

The Crimson men finished ahead of Yale to redeem themselves after falling to the Elis earlier in the season.

"We gave them some of their own medicine," Mayer said.

Dartmouth, however, ran away with the championship by dominating nearly every event. For example, five of the eight finalists in the discus wore the colors of the Big Green.

"The competition this year was so much tougher due to the strength of Dartmouth," Mayer said. "They just crushed everybody in the men's competition."

Harvard's highlight in the men's competition came when Co-Captain James Russell won the outdoor hammer championship--defeating Dartmouth's Dan Ford, the Heps indoor champion.

The Crimson men tallied placed two other members in the top five in their respective events. Junior Chris Sullivan cleared the bar for fourth place in the high jump, and freshman Nic Sweeney took second in the discus.

Harvard achieved several personal bests. Brian Cann broke his personal record by 23 seconds in the 5000 meters, and Jon Brussenski threw a personal best in the shot. The 400-meter relay ran its best time at 43.17 seconds, and the mile relay pulled off a personal record at 3:19.4.

Despite these accomplishments, the Crimson failed to qualify for the finals in any of these events because of the tough competition.

The freshman and sophomore classes include many of Harvard's leading performers throughout the season. Joining Rainey is Sweeney, runner-up in the discus, who offers hope for Harvard's throwing squad after Russell graduates. The men's mile relay also includes three freshmen.

"The main strength of our team is in the freshman and sophomores," Mayer said. "We have a good base. Next year Harvard's going to jump up and surprise a lot of teams."