Better Than A Bake Sale

This weekend's Harvard Track and Field Invitational was part meet and part fundraiser for the Harvard men's and women's track teams.

The informal meet, which was not scored for teams, brought together teams from throughout Massachusetts and surrounding areas. Among the visitors were Tufts, Bentley and Brandeis--along with men's teams from Ivy rivals Penn and Brown.

Given the relaxed nature of the event--Crimson athletes manned the concession booths, did the timing, and raked the pits--only the truly healthy runners participated.

"We only ran people that were absolutely healthy," said men's co-captain Joe Ciollo. "It is a pretty meaningless event, and only about half of our team was running."

But the highlight of the meet may have been a runner who was, surprisingly, healthy enough to run.

Saturday marked the long-awaited return to the women's lineup of senior Lee Shearer.

Shearer had been a promising performer in her freshman year but was plagued by injuries throughout her sophomore and junior seasons. After a two-year layoff, Shearer stormed back with a mid-58-second performance in the 400-meter race.

"It was a very inspirational moment," said co-captain Heather Hanson. "She ran a great time and looked strong. For those of us that had known her since freshman year, it was really special, but even for underclassmen who didn't know her very well it was inspirational."

The other momentous occurrence during the meet was the women's 4x400-relay team lapping an opposing team during its race.

The team consisted of sophomores Valerie Dixon, Myehla Reed and Marna Schutte along with Shearer running the anchor leg.

"They ran about a 4:01, which is about seven seconds slower than last weekend," Hanson said. "However, we had some injuries and not everyone was a 400 runner. To run that good of a time and to lap a team is amazing. Lapping another team is always exciting."

Schutte also took part in the closest race of the day, narrowly edging sophomore teammate Brenda Taylor by a half step for first place in the 200-meter race.

As usual, sophomore Dora Gyoffry did not disappoint her fans by taking homefirst in the high jump.

The star on the men's side of the meet wasCiollo, who unofficially broke his own schoolrecord last weekend in the 500-meter. Saturday, healmost set the school record in the 200-and400-meter.

In the 400, Ciollo ran a 48.42, missing theschool record of 48.41 by a mere one-hundredth ofa second. In the 200, the senior ran 22.00--therecord is 21.91.

"I am not at all disappointed about notbreaking the marks," Ciollo said. "It is only thesecond meet of the season, and I am lookingforward to dropping my time in the future. I havemany more opportunities to run these races."

The near-misses were both good enough for firstin the races. Right behind Ciollo were somefamiliar friends.

Freshman Kobie Fuller placed third in both the200 and 400 races, an effort that impressed Ciollogreatly.

"Kobie's really been stepping up the pastcouple weeks," Ciollo said. "He is ready for somebig-time races."

Crimson runners also finished fourth and fifthin the 400 for a truly dominating race. FreshmanNnamdi Okike took fourth 49.9 seconds, andsophomore Rich Powell nabbed fifth with a50.5-second time.

All three runners were also part of thevictorious Crimson mile-relay team. Powell ledthings off, followed by freshmen Okike, Fuller andOsahon Omoregie.

Other Crimson results included senior ScottMuoio's win in the 5000-meter, co-captain JoeLin's third-place finish in the mile, sophomoreArthur Feng's second-place showing in the longjump, junior Dominic Patillo's third place finishin the 800-meter, and freshman David Grimm'spersonal-best 15.24 meter throw in the 35-poundweight throw.

In this relatively informal event, Harvard didlearn some things about the future Ivy season.With Penn and Brown in attendance with partialteams, the Crimson had its eye on the futurecompetition.

"Penn brought a handful of people, mostlysprinters and jumpers," Ciollo said. "They areusually one of the best teams in the league, andthey didn't appear to be so at this meet. Brownwas a non-factor."

The meet marks the end of the calendar year forthe teams, which have a long break beforerestarting the season in January

The star on the men's side of the meet wasCiollo, who unofficially broke his own schoolrecord last weekend in the 500-meter. Saturday, healmost set the school record in the 200-and400-meter.

In the 400, Ciollo ran a 48.42, missing theschool record of 48.41 by a mere one-hundredth ofa second. In the 200, the senior ran 22.00--therecord is 21.91.

"I am not at all disappointed about notbreaking the marks," Ciollo said. "It is only thesecond meet of the season, and I am lookingforward to dropping my time in the future. I havemany more opportunities to run these races."

The near-misses were both good enough for firstin the races. Right behind Ciollo were somefamiliar friends.

Freshman Kobie Fuller placed third in both the200 and 400 races, an effort that impressed Ciollogreatly.

"Kobie's really been stepping up the pastcouple weeks," Ciollo said. "He is ready for somebig-time races."

Crimson runners also finished fourth and fifthin the 400 for a truly dominating race. FreshmanNnamdi Okike took fourth 49.9 seconds, andsophomore Rich Powell nabbed fifth with a50.5-second time.

All three runners were also part of thevictorious Crimson mile-relay team. Powell ledthings off, followed by freshmen Okike, Fuller andOsahon Omoregie.

Other Crimson results included senior ScottMuoio's win in the 5000-meter, co-captain JoeLin's third-place finish in the mile, sophomoreArthur Feng's second-place showing in the longjump, junior Dominic Patillo's third place finishin the 800-meter, and freshman David Grimm'spersonal-best 15.24 meter throw in the 35-poundweight throw.

In this relatively informal event, Harvard didlearn some things about the future Ivy season.With Penn and Brown in attendance with partialteams, the Crimson had its eye on the futurecompetition.

"Penn brought a handful of people, mostlysprinters and jumpers," Ciollo said. "They areusually one of the best teams in the league, andthey didn't appear to be so at this meet. Brownwas a non-factor."

The meet marks the end of the calendar year forthe teams, which have a long break beforerestarting the season in January