With three cross country runners finishing ina dead heat for first place, Saturday's contest at Van Cortlandt Park could have been a very exciting race. But since all three distance men were members of coach Bill McCurdy's varsity, the outing was little more than a practice exercise to familiarize the Crimson with the tricky Van Cortlandt track.

McCurdy's barriers will use the same course against stiffer competition in the November Heptagonals.

Captain Ed Hamlin, Eddie Meehan, and Bill Crain starred in the one-sided contest that ended with Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania far behind the unbeaten Crimson. Harvard wrapped up the meet with a blistering 19 points with the Lions and the Quakers lagging at 47 and 68 respectively.

The winning time of McCurdy's top threesome was an unimpressive 28:09, but it was good enough to rout all serious competition. A Penn runner, Bill Rich, did manage to finish fourth, but he was followed by varsity runner John D'arcy and Pete Huvelle in the fifth and sixth slots.

Hamlin's time was slow because of a sore knee that almost kept him out of the triangular meet. Looking at the final scores after it was all over, the varsity captain said, "I shouldn't have run at all."

Crain Performs Well

Only sophomore Crain's performance was above expectations. In pre-season training, Crain ran well enough to start rumors of another "big three" on the McCurdy squad. But in early season competition the 5 ft., 11 in., runner was a definite, but distant, third behind Meehan and Hamlin.

In tying the "big two" Saturday, Crain may be showing that he is ready to step into the front line. The Crimson will need more of the same in its crucial match with the University of Massachusetts on Tuesday.