The Crimson swimmers had a disappointing third and final day at the Eastern Seaboard Championships Saturday at Yale, falling to eighth place in the team standings. But they scored twice as many points as they did last year and set six Harvard records to help make up for the frustration.
Coach Bill Brook's team which occupied sixth place for the first two days, collected 102 points, as compared to 51 in 1968. Rutgers and North Carolina were the two squads which moved past Harvard yesterday. While these teams struggled for sixth place, Yale coasted to its seventh consecutive title with 463 1/2 points. Princeton was once more a distant second.
On Saturday, Bill Murphy of Harvard had to settle for a fourth-place finish in his specialty, the three-meter dive. Murphy's rival from Dartmouth, Mike Brown, was the three-meter victor, though the Crimson star beat Brown in a dual meet two weeks ago.
"Bill just wasn't diving in the 8-point class as he usually does," Brooks said yesterday. "He was a little long on three of his drives, not getting his normally clean entries," the Harvard coach added. Though he did not win, Murphy did well enough to earn 21 of his team's points.
John Munk was the only other Crimson competitor to place in two individual events. After qualifying fifth in the record time of 53:3 in the 100-yard butterfly, Munk finished tenth in the finals Saturday night. Two nights earlier. Munk netted a fourth in the 200-yard butterfly, also establishing a record.
The Crimson 400-yard freestyle relay team set a new Harvard mark of 3:13:1 Saturday, but could do no better than seventh and barely missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
Brooks had hoped his quarter of Mike Cahalan, Toby Gerhart, Dave Powlison, and Steve Krause could do better, but said," "It was really a great team effort, and is especially impressive since it was the only all-sophomore relay team entered."
The highlight of the three-day extravaganza for Harvard partisans was captain-elect Cahalan's victory Thursday in the 50-free. "Mike's triumph was just terrific; a real win." Brooks said yesterday. Cahalan suffered a disappointment in the qualifying heats of the 100-free Saturday. He did the first 50 yards in 21.8, but made a bad turn, taking in a mouthful of water, and failed to qualify.
Harvard wil now set its sights on the NCAA championships, which start March 28 at Indianapolis. On the basis of times, Cahalan, Krause, and Munk are all eligible, as is Murphy. Brooks said he is not yet sure who will go because the trip will go because the trip will involve missing several days of classes.
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