If desire alone could produce victory, the varsity cross country team would have little trouble preserving its five- meet win streak in this afternoon's Big Three meet at New Haven.

As it now stands, however, the debilitated Crimson will be hard-pressed to upset a powerful Yale team.

Pete Reider and Ed Martin typify the spirit of the Harvard squad. Neither has worked out for two weeks, but both insist upon being allowed to run. Reider believes that he can win the race.

He probably won't. That honor is reserved for Princeton's Rod Zwirner; but the Tigers offer little else.

The fortunes of the Crimson depend on its healthy members. Dyke Benjamin, Captain Dave Norris and Jim Schlaeppi should be strong contenders. The key to the whole meet lies in the hands of French Anderson and sophomore Wes Hildreth, both of whom have shown such rapid improvement that either could break the meet wide open.

Countering the varsity will be a Yale squad, studded with sophomores, which has lost only to Fordham, and then by one point. Last year the Elis ended a varsity 21-meet streak with an upset win at Princeton.

Seniors Jack Bogan and Chaptain Tim Hogen form the backbone of the team; sophomore Cleo Cherryholmes, Jon Blake, John Morrison and Tom Cathcart have consistently paced the Elis to their earlier wins.

In the freshman meet, another undefeated squad faces a talented Eli opponent. The Bullpups have lost only to the Fordham freshmen, and they boast three phenomenal runners in Tom Carroll, holder of the schoolboy 880 record, Ned Roache, and Bill Bachrach, who has beaten them both. Bachrach currently holds the Yale freshman cross country record.