Men's Track Surprises in Finale

If you were glancing at the results of the men's track team's 1993-94 campaign without any background knowledge of the team's history, you would probably be thoroughly unimpressed--the team began the winter indoor season in the league's lower division and climbed only a few places higher by the end of the spring outdoor season.

But if you were to compare the results to those of previous years, you might have a different impression.

"I know that it doesn't look like much happened this year, but that's misleading," senior co-captain Pete McConnon says. "In reality, we made some incredible strides."

The team went into the winter indoor season not quite knowing what to expect. Although it knew that it was inheriting a number of talented long distance runners from the cross country team, which finished a surprising fourth at Heptagonals, it knew little else.

Well, the athletic department virtually assured that it wouldn't be a completely disastrous season by pitting the team against some less-than-incredible competition to start off the year, but still, the newcomers performed well above expectations.

This development was evident from the start. The Crimson defeated Boston College in its first meet, 74-60, edged past cross-town rival Northeastern in the second, 75-70, and then garnered an impressive second-place finish out of eight teams in the Greater Boston Challenge.

While the aforementioned meets were mostly against area foes, the team got its first look at Ivy League competition at the H-Y-P meet on February 12, and it wasn't pretty. The squad finished third with 34 points, well behind the Tigers, 81, and the Bulldogs, 54.

The squad then competed in the indoor version of Heptagonals on February 26, where it finished sixth. The three stars in the meet--which is considered to be the highlight of the winter season--were sophomores Darin Shearer, who won the 1,000-meter run in 2:23.92; Shayne Mauricette, who won the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.34; and senior Dave Anderson, who won the 35-pound hammer throw with a toss of 18.86 meters.

With the winter season over, the squad charged into the outdoor season with an eye towards improving its HEPS finish.

Given the limited amount of time, the team did not seem to get off to a great start on that endeavor. In its first meet, an April 9 traingular with Dartmouth and Brown, the team finished a third with 55 points behind Dartmouth (85) and Brown (62), a mediocre, but not terrible, effort.

The team's meet with rare two weeks later was more disappointing, if only for the team's high expectations going in. One coach, after looking at the best times and distances put forth by the two teams during the season, calculated that the Crimson would only lose by five. But once action got started, the margin proved to be much greater; the Crimson lost decisively, 90-73.

The team didn't stay down for too long, though, and recovered in time to thrash Northeastern in a dual, 119-44. The results of the meet demand qualification because a number of the Huskies' top performers were participating in the Penn Relays the day of the contest. But still, the Crimson showed improvement.

The encouraging nature of the Northeastern meet set the stage for the Heptagonals the following weekend at Columbia. After the losses to Dartmouth and Brown earlier in the year, the team was expected to do no better than its sixth-place winter finish.

But riding on the back of a variety of outstanding, top-three individual performances by Ian Carswell (5,000 meters), Terrence Mann (high jump), Shayne Mauricette (100, 200 meters) and Darin Shearer (steeplechase), the team suprised all, taking fourth. It was the highest finish in the meet for Harvard since 1985.

"Outdoor Heps was clearly the highlight, not only of the year, but of me career, Dawson says. "We were expected to finish low, but we surprised everyone."

MEN'S TRACK

Record: I: 2-2; 0: 1-3

Ivy League: I: 0-2; 0: 0-3

Key Players: Shayne Mauricette, David Anderson, Todd Dawson

Seniors: David Anderson, Todd Dawson, Steve Kelts, Pete McConnon, Mark Nowakowski, Esan Simon, Matthew Wachowicz