A resurgent Crimson cross country team yesterday won back some of the prestige it lost a week ago against Brown by defeating Penn and Columbia in clear and cold weather at New York's Van Cortlandt Park. The varsity, placing eight men among the top ten finishers, totaled 23 points, followed by Penn with 43 and Columbia with 74.

Jed Fitzgerald, grimly determined after a 13th-place showing a week ago, led the Crimson by taking a close second behind Quaker Ernest Tracy. Fitzgerald's great closing rush made it seem that he might overhaul the Penn ace, but his bid fell three seconds short. Tracy's winning time was 26:10 for the five-mile distance.

The only runner besides Tracy to break the varsity's domination of the first ten places was Penn's Roy Rissinger, who took fourth behind the Crimson's Mark Mullin. Sophomore Jack Benjamin gave indications that he may some day be almost as valuable as his brother Dyke, one of the all-time Crimson greats, as he came in a strong fifth.

Ralph Perry continued his steady running, finishing sixth, and Greg Baldwin closed out the varsity's scoring with his seventh-place effort. The Crimson's last two official contestants, Wes Hildreth and Don Kirkland, took eighth and ninth, and Dick Slansky came in tenth.

In the freshman meet, the Yardlings were second behind a good Penn squad, 27 to 44. Columbia trailed with 53 points. Ed Hamlin again paced the Crimson with a second-place finish, covering the three-mile course in 15:51.

Although Bill McCurdy-coached varsities have not in the past made a habit of losing, there had been some doubt before yesterday's race that the tradition would hold. The rest of the season looks brighter now, and even the Heptagonals may not be a totally unpleasant experience.