After the varsity track team's decisive 70 1/3 to 38 2/3 win over Army, it appeared a shoo-in to retain its Heptagonal crown in today's meet at Cornell. Since then, unfortunately, a spectre has arisen: Cornell, discounted after its loss to Army, has finally displayed the power which figures to make it the Crimson's keenest competitor for Heptagonal honors.

A conservative prediction of the meet results shows the host, Big Red, winning by seven points, 52 to 45. Last year, the varsity beat Cornell 39 to 36 with Dartmouth third with 31 points.

While the Big Red does not have the varsity's depth, it has the brilliant performers necessary to pick up the big first place points. Cornell is especially strong in the field events, where Dick Allman is favored to take the shot, and John King appears the best in both the high jump and the broad jump.

In the running events, Cornell is a threat to score well in the dash with both Bo Robertson and Earl McHugh, and John Ingley could take the 600. Mike Midler and Dave Eckles are Cornell's distance threats.

Reider Favored

But all is not gloom for the varsity, which finds Pete Reider favored in the two-mile, and Joel Cohen and Joel Landau figured to place high in the hurdles, one of Cornell's weakest events.

Outside of these, however, little is certain. In the weight, for instance, if Pete Harpel can get off a good throw (he has fouled some 60-foot throws in practice) he could win. Or he could place no higher than fourth. If shotputter Jim Doty can get off a toss similar to his winning throw in the Army meet, he, too, could pick up valuable points.

John deKiewiet, one of the most consistent performers on the squad, is figured for a second in the high jump, while either Henry Wente or Dave Gately could place in the broad jump. Neither had been considered in the pre-meet prediction, so possible points in the broad jump would be gravy.

In the running events, things are a bit grimmer than they were last year, when the varsity took first and second in the 1000 and second and third in the 600. Both fields have tightened up since then, and the varsity will be hard-pressed to continue its superiority.

Wharton, Anderson Run 600

Ingley rules the 600 field, with Yale's Bob Skerritt and Cornell's Art Boland also threats. Crimson coach Bill McCurdy will counter with captain Dick Wharton and French Anderson. Wharton looks like the best bet here, but Anderson, recently recovered from a leg injury, could surprise.

In the 1000, Yale's John Slowik, who won the triangular meet, must rate the favorite, with Dartmouth's Doug Brew also highly-regarded.