The Big Green harriers went down to a starting upset defeat at the hands of the Harvard Cross country runners yesterday afternoon at Franklin Park in Boston. The freshman team also was defeated by a thrilling 26 to 29 tally.

The race was close most of the way and therefore the outcome was never certain. Jaskola's Crimson harriers, after starting off their season suspiciously by defeating both Rhode Island and Holy Cross, bounced back hard again after last week's loss to Brown and Boston University. They proved themselves a match for the Dartmouth runners all the way, returning to early season form.

Captain George Clendon led the Green, with Stan Smiley of Dartmouth and Dave Gregory of the Crimson battling neck and neck to the finish. Ellie Noyes, Dartmouth coach, was impressed by the courageous running of Harvard's captain John Pankey.

The Harvard harriers have not shown to well during the autumn. They are hampered by a lack of depth, and the graduation of three key men from last year. Boston writers had predicted that they would give the Green a fight, and only that.

The freshman race was another close thing. Neither team placed enough men in the first five to clinch a victory, although the '54 harriers all showed exceptional promise for coming years.