Tracks Tune Up at Tufts, St. John's

With two weeks of rest from competition drawing to a close, the Harvard men's and women's track teams are ready to get back on their feet--literally.

Neither team has competed since the Heptagonal Championships two weeks ago at Columbia, and this could be a blessing or a curse. Chances are, it will be the former.

Tomorrow, the women will travel to Tufts for the New England Championships and the men will visit St. John's. Both the women and the men will be in individual competition.

Neither will field a complete team, as both these meets come during Harvard's reading period.

"Not many of us will be going on Saturday," said sophomore Marna Schutte." A lot of us have papers and projects that will prevent us from going."

Despite this numerical disadvantage, many of the Crimson's top performers will be donning their racing flats for one of the final races of the season in an effort to chase down a national qualifying time or a personal best.

The Crimson will only be sending about a half-dozen runners to New Englands. Among those who will compete are co-captain Heather Hanson and senior Lee Shearer, two members of the acclaimed 4x400m relay team. In addition, Schutte and junior Carrie McGraw will be in attendance.

"It's mainly an individual meet for us," Schutte said. "In order to go to New Englands, you need to qualify, so it is essentially for personal times."

One runner that will be sorely missed tomorrow is sophomore Brenda Taylor, a runner who has been making great strides for the Crimson all season. Notching by far the most points for her team at Heptagonals, Taylor ran and placed in five events, taking no lower than third in any of them.

Taylor took the gold in three events, both the 100m and 400m hurdles, and the 4x400m relay. She also placed second in the 100m and finished third in the 4x100m relay as well.

Taylor will join the men's team in New York. She is looking to qualify for nationals in the 400m hurdles, and will attempt to do so at St. John's this weekend.

Another possible absence from Tufts is acclaimed field athlete Dora Gyorffy. Known to competitors throughout New England as the one to beat in both the high jump and the triple jump, Gyorffy is qualified for NCAAs many times over and may not be making the short trip to Medford.

Schutte turned in another memorable performance for the Crimson at Heps, as she competed in four events on the day. Taking a gold medal finish in the 400m dash, she took the race in 55.57 seconds, while Shearer followed in fifth place with a time of 57.13 seconds.

The tandem of Schutte and Hanson made their presence felt in the 200-meter dash, finishing second and third respectively. Schutte blazed through the event in 25.32 seconds, while Hanson followed quickly with a time of 25.51 seconds.

Schutte also placed in both the sprint relay events, taking the gold in the 4x400m relay and the bronze in the 4x100m relay.

"I'm hoping to finish off the season really well," Schutte said. "I was really happy with my performances at Heptagonals. I'm not necessarily looking for a personal record but I would like to run at least a respectable time."

The men's team should fare just as well at St. Joseph's, as only a handful of the team's top runners are traveling.

Darrin Dineen, Scott Muoio, and Dave Martin will be accompanying captain Joe Ciollo to the Twilight Meet in an effort to prepare for IC4As the following weekend.

"We are competing at IC4As next weekend, and we haven't raced in two weeks. This meet should help us get in good racing shape," Ciollo said. "Darrin, Scott, and Dave have all run very well all season, and I'm sure they're looking to PR."

With only a few meets to go for the seniors, Ciollo and Muoio will be looking to notch personal records, as well to ensure their advancement to future rounds.

"This meet will be a good way for each of us to improve our times individually," Ciollo said. "This is a very competitive East Coast meet."

Muoio performed strongly at Penn Relays a few weeks ago in the Ivy League division. Breaking his own personal record of 8:59.39 in the steeplechase, he came through in the clutch for Harvard.

Ciollo himself, after a fourth place finish at Heps that he seems unsatisfied with, is looking to add to his list of broken school records.

After breaking Harvard's 500m record numerous times during the indoor season, Ciollo is seeking the elusive 47.20 that it would take to move Jim Herberich '85 down a slot. Ciollo's personal best of 47.81 is a mere six-tenths away from Herberich's record, and is definitely within reach.