Cross-Country Remains Below Par

It was the Scott and Schotte show--and not much else--for the Harvard men's and women's cross-country teams this fall.

In another year of rebuilding for both squads, men's junior captain Scott Muoio and women's junior captain-elect Margaret Schotte were Harvard's top finishers in almost every meet, as the Crimson men and women struggled to eighth and seventh-place finishes, respectively, among nine teams at the Heptagonal Championships Oct. 31 in Bronx, N.Y.

Muoio Paces Men's Team

Bright spots were few and far between for the Harvard men's cross-country team, who remains light years behind powerhouses like Princeton.

There were some signs of improvement. Although Harvard beat only Yale at Heps, it was a mild improvement on last year's last-place finish, and the Elis had bested the Crimson earlier in the season at the H-Y-P double-dual meet.

Harvard was unable, however, to place a single runner in the top 25 of the season-culminating meet, which Princeton won with a record-low score.

The Crimson entered Heps coming off a disappointing ninth-place finish out of 36 competitors at the New England Championships. The team stumbled to a slow start in the five-mile race and was unable to recoup.

"We got out slow and we couldn't really recover," Muoio said. "In that big of a field, it's hard to catch up when you fall back."

While the New England Championships is only the second biggest race of the year in prestige, it is the biggest in sheer physical size.

Record: 8th/9 at Heps (men), 7th/9 at Heps (women)

Coach: Frank Haggerty '68

Highlights: Women's team finishes fifth at New England Championships.

Seniors: Unavailable

"I spent the first two miles throwing elbows, and I had to hurdle a guy who got knocked down," said sophomore David Martin.

The early meet season saw a third-place finish at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton (H-Y-P) double-dual, a seventh-place finish out of 12 teams at the Iona Meet of Champions and a second-place finish behind Brown at the Brown-Northeaster-Harvard (B-N-H) double-dual meet. The season began with a third-place finish out of 10 teams at the Fordham Invitational.

Muoio was the top Harvard runner at virtually every meet, the conspicuous exception being the eighth-place finish of freshman Cameron Hatch at the B-N-H meet.

Schotte Through the Heart

Harvard women's cross-country entered this season having to cope with the graduation of a chunk of its team, one that posted an impressive 20-3 dual meet record last season.

Schotte continued her dominance of Harvard cross-country, as she was Harvard's top finisher at most of its meets, including 11th at Heps, one place shy of a Second-Team All-Ivy selection.

Although the Crimson's seventh-place finish at Heps was a drop of two spots from last year, the season was not without its highlights.

Harvard's fifth-place finish at the New England Championships, held at Franklin Park, included a win over perennial powerhouse Brown.

"It was definitely the best race of the season," said captain Heather Shroud. "[Brown] beat us pretty handily [at the B-N-H double dual], so it was great to finish ahead of them [at New England's]."

Schotte was Harvard's top finisher at New England's, placing 14th out of 261 runners in a time of 18:37.9. Sophomore Bethany Helms placed 25th in 19:02.1.

"It was the first week I didn't let myself get out-kicked at the end," Schotte said.

Schotte also grabbed fifth overall at the H-Y-P meet, third at the B-N-H meet and fourth at the season-opening Fordham Invitational, which included 10 teams.

Both Harvard teams ran hard this season but sometimes, try as you might, you're just not fast enough.