As track teams come and go, this year's Yardling outfit, although it may not turn out to be sensational, has more than an even chance of coming out on the long end of its five month schedule. After taking it on the chin to the tune of 51 to 44 at the hands of Exeter in their first meet with a major opponent, Coach Neufeld's protegees are training hard this week for a triangular meet with Dartmouth and Andover in Hanover on Saturday.

When the Yardlings hit the trail for Hangover, it will not be without misgivings, for the Indians probably have a powerful team, judging from their cross country team of last fall. Whatever their opposition may prove to be, the Freshmen will be at their best, for the squad is augmented by Pole vaulter Gerry Lanane, who missed out on the school boy meet because of sickness.

The 1944 trackmen are by no means a perfect team, for their strength is not evenly distributed, and they must rely on certain events to give them enough points to put them in the money, Judging by their performance against Exeter, Coach Neufeld will have one very potent ace up his sleeve in the 1000 yard run, where the veterans of the cross country team are showing themselves as fit indoors as they were on the hills. Led by Bill Palson, harrier captain, the distance men include Marshall Hughes and Bob Mead, all three of whom are capable of repeating the clean sweep with which they floored the Exonians.

Head Coach Jaakko Mikkola is hopeful that the neophytes will provide him with material for the Varsity in the near future. The strong aggregation of young milers and two milers who are biding their time in the 1000 yard run until the spring, may be the answer to the drubbing which the Elis handed out on Saturday.

The medium distances are also fairly strong with Tim Coggeshall and Paul Alken running in the 600 and Charlie Eberhard and Alan Pifer competing in the 300. In general, it seems that as the distances grow shorter, the Yardlings' ability also seems to fizzle, with the result that the dashes are unreliable and Exeter proved that the team must depend on the distances.

Probable reason for the weak dishes is the absence of men who have the stuff, but because of scholastic difficulties or participation in another sport, cannot come out. Jaakko was quite confident that a few more of the good men he knows are in the class would add a great deal to the team's potentialities. Bill Bingham, Jr., who showed real ability in the half mile at school, is unable to report because of an injury, but may be in the ranks by the end of the winter term.

Field events, now the mainstay of the Varsity, are not a Yardling specialty, but as the Exeter meet showed, are a sizeable source of the necessary points. high jumper Ed Mahoney who registered the winning score in the schoolboy meet, may repeat his performance next week, but will have his hands full against the confident Indians. Cliff Howard and George Hibbard are the Crimson contenders in the shot put. In the broad jump, Bob Gillette has covered over 21 feet this year, and in his native California he done even better.

All told, the Dartmouth-Andover meet will not only be the climax of the winter indoor season, but will be the proving ground in which the Yardlings must show their talent. With the conclusion of their indoor meets, the Yardlings will begin to train for the more important outdoor meets which are to come. In the spring, they will take another crack at their winter fees, besides adding Yale to the schedule.