Harvard's indoor track team won the Heptagonals and finished second in the IC4A meet, but Coach Bill McCurdy nonetheless faces the outdoor season with fewer individual stars and less depth than he has had in three years.

The team opens its season against Brown today, in one of just two home meets this year.

How come a good indoor track team doesn't necessarily perform well outdoors? To begin with, there are six more events (discus, javelin, hammer, triple jump, 440-yard hurdles, and sprint relay) on the outdoor card, and in only one of these does Harvard have blue-chip points.

That one event is the 440-yard intermediate hurdles, in which Captain Tony Lynch dominates all Eastern competition--with the possible exception of B.U.'s Dave Hemery, a sophomore Englishman who won the IC4A indoor 60-yard high hurdles. Until he faces Hemery in the Greater Boston meet, however, Lynch should breeze past all his competition.

His credentials include a third place in last year's NCAA championships, in which he led the field to the last hurdle before losing stride briefly. He won the IC4A championship in 51.5 last season and lowered that to 51.1 in the NCAA semifinals.

Lynch a Sure Thing

Lynch should also be a sure winner in almost every meet in the 120-yard hurdles, which he has run in 14.1. Frank Haggerty, a sophomore, backs him up capably in both events.

In fact, the Crimson will be well represented in every running event. Wayne Anderson had a tough early season indoors, but came on to win his second straight Heps dash championship. He has run the 100-yard dash in 9.7 and has turned in a 9.6 with a tall wind.

In the 220, Anderson and George Patterson, returning to track after a year out of school and a term on probation, should be a formidable entry. Also a factor in the sprints is football star Bob Leo, whom McCurdy thinks might also help out in the broad jump, triple jump, and sprint relay.

Sam Robinson, the team's premiere quarter miler, injured his knees during vacation-time training in Puerto Rico and won't run in the Brown meet. Sophomores Jeff Huvelle and Dave McKelvey will head the Crimson contingent in the 440 until Robinson, who turned in a 48.3 last year, is healthy again.

Burns Strong in 880

The team lost its top two men in the 880, but this should be a strong event nonetheless thanks to the incredible development of sophomore Trey Burns. Burn's best half-mile time last year was 1:55.3; this winter he suddenly developed into one of Harvard's best middle-distance runners ever, turning in a 2:10.4 1000-yard run. Junior Jim Smith provides depth in the event.

Jim Baker, the sophomore Englishman who set a freshman record with a 4:12.0 last year, heads the mile contingent, with Smith, Dave Allen, Ran Langenbach, and Dick Howe making it a deep event for the Crimson.

Baker doubles in the two-mile, which he ran in 9:05.5 this winter, but he might have to give way in this event to Walt Hewlett, the two-time cross-country all-American who stayed out of indoor competition this winter. Hewlett was running well during the Puerto Rico trip and might regain the form that made him two-mile champion last year.

This is a pleasant story for McCurdy, and so is the high jump, where Chris Pardee has cleared 6-10 and is consistent at 6-8. Charles Njoku, John Newman, and Belford Lawson provide depth in the event.