The Crimson cross country team splashed to a third place finish in the IC4A's behind Villanova and Georgetown on a rain-soaked Van Cortlandt park course in New York yesterday. Harvard's finish, while a disappointment to most of the team, nonetheless represented the team's highest placing since 1953.

Villanova placed two harriers in the first six and netted a total of 76 points to post a 14 point edge over Georgetown. Harvard's total of 125 provided a margin of nine over Michigan State for third place in the starting field of 33 Eastern colleges.

Sophomore Dave Pottetti led the Crimson effort, surging to the front early and holding a slim lead over the field of 250 for the first mile. As the race progressed into the wooded hills, however, Pottetti gave way to Georgetown's Steve Stageberg.

The closely-packed runners continued to string out as the footing worsened on downhill stretches, and Potteti gradually fell back to seventh place. He remained in that position to the finish, crossing the line in 25:14, a creditable mark under the conditions.

Stageberg First

Stageberg romped home in first place with a seventy-yard lead over Holy Cross ace Art Dulong. He was followed in close order by Pitt's Jerry Richey, Villanova's Dick Buerkle, Yale's Frank Shorter, and Villanova's Tom Donnelly before Potteti opened the Harvard scoring.

Junior Keith Colburn crossed the line 26 seconds later in eighteenth place with teammate Tom Spengler a stride behind. Harvard captain Doug Hardin finished a disappointing 36th, and senior Tim McLoone closed out the scoring total with 45th. Royce Shaw and Jon Enscoe were 53rd and 73rd, respectively.

The Crimson harriers have been setting their sights high throughout their undefeated season and were somewhat disappointed with their performance. But Hardin made no excuses for his showing or for the team's as he sat in his Winthrop House room last night, his shinsplints wrapped in a towel and cotton swabs easing his blistered feet.

"In a big meet like this, you have to run as individuals," he explained. "There are just too many other runners to let you stay together as a team."

Hardin's 'Bad Day'

Hardin went on to dismiss his own performance as "a bad day," and accounted for McLoone and Shaw in similar terms. "And when three of your top scorers have bad days, your team is in trouble."

Shaw takes his running very seriously and was too despondent to talk about the meet, but Colburn and McLoone joined Hardin in looking forward to next week's NCAA meet. With the pressure of an undefeated record now somewhat relieved, the harriers are already anticipating a comeback next Monday in New York.

In the freshman meet, Harvard ran into tougher competition, finishing seveth in a field of 29. Villanova swept to a convincing victory with a score of 27 points. Penn State was a distant second with 99, followed by Penn, Cornell, Maryland, and N.Y.U.

Rick Jurgens, recovered from trouble some leg injuries that bothered him throughout the dual meet season, led the Harvard effort in 20th position. His time of 15:46 was the best recorded by a Harvard freshman on the three-mile Van Cortlandt course this year. Thirteen seconds behind Jurgens was Britisher Alan Long in the number 30 slot.

Bob Seals in 39th, Phil Lichtenstein in 74th, and captain Andy Meltzoff in 79th completed the Yardling scoring in their final meet of the season.