The undefeated varsity cross-country team is favored to gain its fourth consecutive victory today when it meets the Columbia and Pennsylvania harriers in a triangular meet at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

Neither Penn nor Columbia is expected to be as strong as the Brown team, which the varsity soundly defeated last weekend, and Coach Bill McCurdy anticipates little difficulty, "provided our top five men continue to perform as they did against Brown."

For the varsity, the rugged Van Cortlandt Park course may cause as much trouble as the opposition. The five mile course follows an extremely hilly route with very rough terrain within the first two miles and a self-explanatory "Cemetery Hill" not far from the finish.

Both the Penn and Columbia teams have improved in recent meets and each has an outstanding number one runner. Penn's sophomore star, Dick Tracy, is considered the top sophomore distance runner in the Ivy League and placed second in the IC4A freshman two mile event last year. Columbia's Jose Iglesias had a sensational sophomore year two years ago, but has been hampered by a series of injuries since then.

In a meet that may develop into a race between the front-runners, the Crimson will counter with its outstanding one-two combination of Captain Dyke Benjamin and sophomore Jed Fitzgerald.

Benjamin, who is undefeated in three previous meets this season, has confounded the experts who had predicted only a mediocre season for him, while Fitzgerald has been running splendidly in the number two position.

Behind the two leaders, senior Will Thompson provides consistent support in third position. Fast-improving Jim Schlaeppi and Ed Martin complete the top five.

In the freshman meet at Van Cortlandt, the Yardlings will also be seeking their fourth win of the season in a similar triangular meet with the Columbia and Penn freshmen.