Harvard's varsity and freshman cross-country teams successfully defended their titles in the Greater Boston Championships yesterday, even though no Crimson harrier finished in the top three in either race.

Led by fourth-place Dave Allen at 22:39, six Harvard men were among the first 11 to complete the 4.6-mile Franklin Park course. Ran Langenbach placed sixth in 22:48. Robert Stempson finished seventh, Joseph Ryan eighth, Jon Chaffee tenth, Jim Baker eleventh, and Clive Kileff nineteenth.

Boston University's George Starkus handily won the varsity race in 22:02, and Northeastern's Dave Dunsky and Bill Kneeland took the next two slots. Despite the two high finishers, Northeastern placed second to Harvard because their third man crossed the line far back at twelfth. The top five runners from each school are figured in the scoring.

Walt Hewlett of Harvard, who won the Greater Boston meet last year, did not run yesterday because of a muscle strain. Coach Bill McCurdy said that it is impossible to tell if Hewlett will be ready for the Heptagonal meet in New York this Friday.

Before the freshman race, McCurdy advised his runners, "When in doubt, sprint." All seven of them, as if connected by a rope, dashed to the finish line within sixteen seconds of each other.

Crimson runners placed fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth. Jim Stinchcomb headed the parade over a 2.5 mile course with a time of 11:59, 13 seconds behind Stan Kozubeck of M.I.T.