When Harvard's Varsity harriers string out along the starting line of New York's five-mile Van Courtland Park course this morning they will be favored to cop top honors in the first annual Heptagonal cross-country meet.

Although Jaakko's undefeated squad will be facing major opposition from Princeton, Yale, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Dartmouth and Cornell in the new Ivy League mass marathon, the Crim- son has already decisively beaten the Elis, Tigers, and Indians. And Princeton in turn has taken the measure of Columbia and Penn.

Cornell Biggest Threat

Cornell, however, remains a relatively unknown quantity, but not a negligible one, since the Big Red, which took seventh in the I. C. 4-A. meet a year ago, is considerably stronger this season and will provide Captain Penn Tuttle and his cohorts with their toughest competition. Ranney, Wing-enter, Schmidt, and Hoag are the Ithacans' big guns.

Beside Tuttle, the Crimson seven-man Hop team is composed of Langy Burwell, Gene Clark, Dave Simboli, Joe McLoughlin, Jim Lightbody, and Dick Wing.

Watson, Little Hot

Leading contenders for the individual blue ribbon in today's race are Bill Watson of Yale, Dave Little of Princeton, Hal Wonson of Dartmouth, and Cornell's Ranney