Harvard's undefeated cross country team will face its toughest opposition of the season when it goes to the line in the IC4A meet in New York this afternoon. Still riding high from an impressive victory in the Heptagonal Championships ten days ago, the Crimson harriers will face over 220 runners from 33 eastern colleges in today's university division meet.

Perennial track power Villanova is favored to successfully defend its IC4A crown. The Jumbos have lost key runners through graduation and the Olympics, but they have competent backup strength in Tom Donnelly, Chris Mason, and Dick Buerkle. Add a tradition of victory and coach Jumbo Elliott's ability to pull out the big ones, and Villanova has to be listed as the team to beat today.

Rated close behind the Jumbos are Georgetown, Penn State, and Harvard. Georgetown is led by Steve Stageberg, who finished second in last year's meet and has already carded the season's top time on the five-mile Van Cortlandt Park course. Penn State finished seven runners in front of a competent Navy team in a recent dual meet and could have the depth to challenge.

But they will all have to cope with a determined group of Harvard runners. Coach Bill McCurdy's squad has established itself as one of the country's top college teams and has been aiming toward today's meet all season.

Laurels

Captain Doug Hardin is expected to be a contender for individual laurels. The diminutive redhead became the first runner in Heptagonal history to cop two consecutive championships and has to rate as the top long-distance runner in Harvard history.

Hardin's teammates will have to demonstrate similar consistency today to put Harvard on top. Junior Keith Colburn capped his emergence as a long distance runner with a third place Heptagonal finish. A tough competitor, Colburn owns a blistering finishing kick that could catapult him into the top ten in today's meet.

Questions

Yet there are two major questions facing the Harvard harriers. One concerns the ability of sophomores Dave Pottetti and Tom Spengler to handle the crowded conditions and fast early pace of a large championship meet. Both reacted well in the Heps, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. But there will be four times as many runners today, and more experienced runners have been known to get lost in the five-mile shuffle.

The other question mark hovers over the heads of Tim McLoone and Royce Shaw. One of the two will have to make a sizable time improvement over a disappointing Heps performance to keep the Crimson in scoring contention. Both have shown flashes of brilliance this season, and a return to top form by either today could provide the fifth place necessary for a Harvard victory.