Intramural athletics moves into its second phase with perennially tough Eliot House once again leading the race for the Straus Cup.

"Master Heimert told us that he'd like to see the trophy back at Eliot, and I'd sure hate to let him down," commented athletic secretary John Powers. "We're going to be awfully tough to catch."

Winthrop and Lowell are virtually tied for second place, but both are a long jump from the top. With strong squads in both basketball and hockey, Winthrop appears to be the major rival for the league leadership throughout the winter.

"Winthrop is a definite threat," commented Powers. "They've accused me of raiding the junior varsity for my players, but they've sure tried to pack their hockey team."

Winthrop athletic secretary Joe Stiles was non-committal as ever. "We're adopting a low profile," he explained, "to keep from getting burned on overconfidence. I'd say that we did reasonably well in the fall, and we expect to do reasonably well again in the winter."

Mather House's secretary Mike Sherman issued an ominous warning to the rest of the league: "Look out, guys, because we're going to be coming up fast."

Mather calls itself an "expansion club" and relies mainly on sophomores for its strength. "This ought to put us in good shape for next year," predicted Sherman.

Basketball shapes up as a battle between Winthrop and Leverett for the championship. "We haven't got much height," says Stiles, "but we've got good hustle."

Steve Manion, secretary for Leverett, says that his cage squad has "four varsity leftermen and a sophomore who's as good as the lettermen," putting his squad in good position to challenge for the lead.

"People think we're the team to beat in hockey," says Sherman, "but Eliot, Winthrop, and Leverett will also be strong. We've got the best goalie in the league, and a few Canadians to help out."

TOTAL FALL STRAUS POINTS ELIOT 385

WINTHROP 350

LOWELL 349

KIRKLAND 324

ADAMS 319