The Harvard cross-country team took the first four places to overwhelm Providence College, 20-35, in the season opener at Franklin Park Saturday. Captain Jim Baker's 200-yard victory paced Harvard's first victory over Ray Hanlon's Friars since 1963.

Trailing the Englishman Baker to the finish were sophomore Ray Shaw--making his debut in 5 mile varsity competition --and juniors Tim McLoone and Doug Hardin.

Shaw's performance, while outstanding, was pretty much what Coach Bill McCurdy might have expected of him; the California ace holds the Harvard mile record, 4:03.4.

But McCurdy was especially delighted with the strong showings of McLoone and Hardin. "McLoone," he was saying to Friar coach Hanlon during the race, 'has gotten really strong over the past year; he's going to be a big help."

Hardin's Knee

Running in sweat pants to lubricate his tendonitis-afflicted knees, the bearded Hardin hung gamely with the leaders throughout the race, eventually copping the vital fourth place finish.

'There's progress," he said afterwards, 'my knees will be stiff tonight, but at least I'll be able to loosen them up by exercising--and that's an improvement over a couple of weeks ago."

Encouraged by the partial healing of Hardin's knees, McCurdy still worries about sophomore Keith Colburn's left ankle. Colburn, who ran a blistering 1:48.0 half mile last sping, has a tender Achilles tendon. He hung in Saturday's race for about three miles, but then had to fade as the ankle acted up.

Baker grabbed the lead from Colburn after the first half mile, and added gradually to his advantage, finally clinching the race with a strong move about 1.5 miles from the finish. His time was 27:52, 56 seconds over Hardin's course record.

Providence had two sophomores, Marty, Robb and Tom Mallory, and two juniors in its top five, all finishing ahead of Crimson senior Dick Howe, Harvard's fifth scorer.

The Harvard freshman runners also dumped their P.C. counterparts, 25-34. Circling the course, 3.1 miles, in 16:14, Dave Pottetti scored a ten second win to pace the Harvard victory.

The Crimson goes after Northeastern at Franklin Park--located off Blue Hill Avenue in Roxbury--September 27.