Women's Harriers Look Good; Men Untested

The Harvard men's and women's cross country teams have the same coach, Frank Haggerty. That's about all they have in common.

The women boast strong senior and sophomore classes, returning almost all their top runners from a 4-0 team last year.

The men, meanwhile, learned over the summer that top seniors Ian Carswell and Killian Lonergan won't come back in 1996, which leaves the Crimson men with a truckload of questions.

The Women's Team

The bad news for Harvard is that the team loses its best runner from last year, Karen Goetze, who decided in the late spring to graduate a year early. The good news is that everyone else is back.

In the front of the pack is senior Jenny Martin and sophomore Margaret Schotte, who finished eighth and 12th, respectively, at the Heptagonal Championships, which pits the nine Ivy schools and Navy against each other.

Captain Caitlin Hurley will also be counted on, as will junior Margaret Angell, sophomore Sarah Ellis and senior Jessica Mikszewski, who missed last season due to an Achilles Heel injury.

"The women have some good depth," Haggerty said. "There's strength in our senior class--they've been a good core of our team since 1993."

Harvard finished last year 4-0 in meets and came in second at the Heptagonals, way behind front-runner Dartmouth, who swept the top three spots and won the meet easily.

The Men's Team

It's going to be a bit more difficult for the other sex.

Carswell and Lonergan weren't just the best two runners on the team, they were two of the best runners in the league. Carswell won Heps and came in 17th in the NCAAs, earning All-American status. Lonergan, healthy for the first time in years, came in ninth in Heps and kept on improving over the winter.

But Lonergan's nagging shin splints came back again, and he wasn't able to start training in time to make the cross country season. Carswell, the captain-elect last spring, tried to gain a spot on the Canadian Olympic team in the first half of the summer, over the time that NCAA runners usually rest.

So Carswell had the option of not getting in shape during July and August, or keep on running and get dead tired in the late fall.

"Ian and I agreed that it's not in his best interest to run this year," Haggerty said. "In the long run, it's best for him and best for the team."

For starters, this means that senior Brian Dunkle is the new captain. Secondly, this means that the team will be totally new and untested, for three of last year's best runners--Darin Shearer '96, Matt Bundle '96 and Brian Walsh '96--graduated.

Like usual, Haggerty is keeping mum on what anyone can expect from the freshmen, so the 1996 season is going to be one big unknown.

OUTLOOK * W. CROSS COUNTRY

RECORD: 4-0

COACH: Frank Haggerty

CAPTAIN: Caitlin Hurley '97

KEY RETURNEES: Jenny Martin '97, Margaret Schotte '99, Margaret Angell '98, Jessica Mikszewski '97

KEY LOSSES: Karen Goetze '97-'96, Megan Agy AE96

OUTLOOK * M. CROSS COUNTRY

RECORD: 3-1

COACH: Frank Haggerty

CAPTAIN: Brian Dunkle '97

KEY RETURNEES: Jamey Bianchi '98, Daniel Herlihy '97

KEY LOSSES: Ian Carswell '97, Killian Lonergan '97, Darin Shearer '96