Senior Gary Singleterry, who missed his freshman season because of a broken leg and his sophomore year because of mononucleosis, ended the year as the top punter in the Ivy League with a 39,5 yard average.

Singleterry outkicked Cornell's Bill Arthur, who was first last year when Singleterry was second. Arthur lost despite increasing his average half a yard since Singleterry improved by two yards. The Ivy record of 42.5 yards was set by Joe Randall of Brown in 1966.

Punt and Prayer

It wasn't certain early in the season that Singleterry was going to have as good a fall as expected. In the B.U. game, the day that a feature written on him by John Powers and entitled "A Punt and a Prayer" appeared in the program, he averaged 31 yards on nine punts.

But there was an explanation. He was kicking away from All-American Bruce Taylor. who had averaged 18 yards on punt returns the year before. Many fans didn't realize that, however, and Singleterry received his share of criticism.

And once Ivy play began, he trailed Arthur and Princeton's Brian McCullough, who averaged 48 yards on his first three tries. But Singleterry quickly gained the top spot and never lost it.

Last Year's Record

Singleterry does not hold the Harvard record for punting average, but last year he set a record for number of punts with 57.