Men's Cross Country Lives, Dies as Team

Cross country is one of those sports where if you hear an athlete making repeated references to his "team", you immediately get suspicious.

Given that all the members of a team run at the same time, and that individual performances are the only additives in a "team score," the idea of team play seems to be reduced to Stuart Smally-esque pre-race affirmations.

Except when it comes to Harvard's 1993 cross country team; what else could have accounted for its success?

The team was as young and inexperienced as it has been in years and went up against what may be the toughest Ivy League competition ever, yet it finished fourth at Heptagonals and on the verge of national recognition--its best season in years.

How?

"It sounds corny, but it was a complete team effort," senior James Hickey says. "I know that sounds funny, but it's true. Everyone stepped forward and we were extremely close. I've been in cross country for nine years, and this was the best team experience I've ever had."

"This team was extremely close," agrees senior Doug Lanzo. "Pretty much everyone got along well and everyone was really driven. We pushed each other."

The main spiritual cog for the Crimson was senior Steve Kelts, the team captain. Although he wasn't a consistent top performer for the team, finishing in the team's top three only once all season, Kelts brought to the squad a degree of mettle rarely seen on the cross country circuit.

"Kelts was the toughest runner I have never seen," Hickey says. "He ran so damn hard in practice and in races that the rest of us couldn't help but run our skulls out. He was a great example and, all-around, he was the best captain I've ever had."

"Steve was great," Lanzo adds. "He kept us together, he didn't let us get down and he didn't let us give in--just what a great captain is supposed to do."

Of course, effort alone isn't enough to propel a team to the national level. Harvard's surprising success was also helped by some surprising talent.

Pacing the Crimson in the talent department was sophomore Brian Walsh. Walsh finished in the top three on the team in all but one of seven meets. He led the team in two of those meets, finishing as high as fifth overall on two occasions.

Close behind Walsh in most of those races was the team's biggest surprise, freshman Ian Carswell. After starting the year out slow, Carswell came on to finish in the team's top three in the last five meets.

"Ian was a big surprise," Lanzo said. "It' is guys like him that are going to lead this team to big things in the future."

"A big thing" these days could simply mean a league championship. This season, the Ivies featured three national-caliber squads--Cornell, Brown and Dartmouth--all of which finished ahead of the Crimson at the Heptagonals, the equivalent of league championships plus Navy.

"This was a great year for the league," Hickey says. "Any of the top five teams could have finished in the top 20 on a lucky day. It was stacked."

While the Heptagonals were certainly a high point for the team, the indubitable peak of the season was an October 15 triangular with Princeton and Yale.

Both Princeton and Yale looked past the Crimson going into the meet.

"They sort of took us for granted," Hickey says. "They both beat us last year in the meet and I guess thought that it wouldn't be any problem doing it again."

And they were wrong.

Paced by the second-, third- and fourth-place finishes of Carswell, Walsh and freshman Killian Lonergan, respectively, Harvard blew out Yale, 18-40 (the lowest score wins), and then dismantled Princeton, 20-40.

"That was great," Lanzo said. "We beat them about as bad as you can beat another team in cross country."

Next came the Heptagonals and then a fifteenth place finish out of 30 teams at the ICAAAA championships at George Mason University, and the season was over.

But not forgotten.

"This season was an experience I will remember forever," Hickey says. "we were both one of the best teams Harvard has ever had, and one of the best groups of friends. And I don't think that those were mutually exclusive."