Packed with some of the best talent in years, the freshman track team has retired undefeated for the Christmas vacation but will face one of its toughest opponents, Brown, when the season re-opens Jan. 15.
In its first two meets the Yardling squad scored impressive victories over Army, 60-49, and Boston University, 69-85. Four freshman records fell during the meet with the Plebes.
Jeff Huvelle turned in an astonishing 1:12.8 in the 600-yard run, smashing Richard Wharton's 10 year-old record by nearly 1 1/2 seconds.
Jim Baker, this year's cross-country captain, rewrote Ed Meehan's 1000-yard run record by finishing the event in 2:16.9. The old mark was 2:17.7.
In the mile relay, Bob Cook, Dave Mc Kelvey, Frank Haggerty, and Huvelle recorded a sparkling 3:22.6, four seconds faster than a record set last year. In the two-mile relay, Frank Snowden, Bob Stempson, William Burns, and Baker topped off the Army meet with a record-breaking 8:08.8. The time slashed an astounding 16 seconds off a record set in 1955.
One of the prime reasons for the freshmen's impressive times against Army is the size of West Point's indoor track, twice as long as Briggs Cage's 150-yard oval. Yet size cannot discount the remarkably fast times recorded in the sprints and hurdles by the freshmen.
Carter Lord hasn't set any records, but he pulled off an astonishing double against both Army and B.U. In both meets Lord won the shotput and the dash.
His performances in both events were excellent. Against Army, he threw the shot 50 ft., 4 1/2 in.--only a half-dozen or so varsity shotputters in the Ivy ranks can top that. His 6.4 in the 60-yard dash tied the old varsity meet record in that event.
The squad, coached by Ed Stowell, looks strongest in the distance events, but also has shown strength in the sprints and hurdles. At West Point two weeks ago, the freshmen scored one-two wins in the 60 yard dash and 60 yard hurdles. Lord and Terry Golden led the field in the dash; Golden came back in the hurdles, running the 60-yard course in 7.8, with Frank Haggerty one-tenth of a second behind.
Against B.U. Wednesday, Lord and Golden scored victories in the 40-yard dash and hurdles, respectively. John Lindow, William Thompson, and Bob Cook back up Lord in the sprint.
Weakness in Field Events
If a question-mark hovers over the squad, it must be found in the field events. So far the Yardlings have been able to produce only one consistent winner, Lord in the shot put. Backing him up are Ron Wilson and Clark Leake.
Wilson, after settling for a third against Army's powerful field squad, came back to take the 35-lb. weight in Wednesday's meet with a toss of 44 ft., 2 in. Harvard's third field win came in the high jump which saw freshmen Tom Dublin and John Nelson tie for top honors with dual jumps of 5 ft., 10 in. Mike Hal lock grabbed third in the event.
Top freshmen in the broad jump include Dave Miller, Christos Tountas, and Mark Johnson. All three have been jumping close to 20 ft., Tountas recording the best with a second place leap of 20 ft., 9 1/2 in. against Army.
Weakest of the field events, as is customary at Harvard, is the pole vault, where John Silver has vaulted progressively better, but reached only 11 ft. against B.U. Close behind him is John Chills.
But the strength of the team's chances remains in the running events. In the long distances Bob Stempson, Joe Ryan, Paul Gibson, Bill Wilson, Bob Baker, Steve Marx, and Richard Langenbach are going to have to add important points if the squad is going to improve on its 6-1 record of 1963. Baker and Langenbach have turned in respectable 4:22.1 and 4:26.2 performances in the mile.
The Crimson freshmen have already proved they are strong by defeating Army. "Harring serious injuries, I don't see why we shouldn't continue to improve," Coach Stowell commented. "This year's freshman squad lacks the balance of last year's, but the Brown meet will tell whether they can equal or better last year's team record.
