"We're on the comeback trail. We're gonna kick the hell out of U-Mass and Providence," head cross country coach Bill McCurdy said last night.

The triangular meet begins at 3 p.m. today at Franklin Field with the freshman race. The varsity race begins at 4 p.m.

A Crimson victory is practically certain: only the margin over the University of Massachusetts and Providence College is doubtful. U-Mass lost to Northeastern, whom the Crimson defeated 21-38 in its first meet this year, and Providence has not been able to rival the Crimson's strength in recent years.

Comeback

The comeback McCurdy hopes to see is from Harvard's humiliating defeat at the hands of Penn last Friday. The Pennsylvania Harriers nabbed the first six places and 11 of the first 13 to hand the Crimson its worst defeat since McCurdy began coaching Harvard. The score was 15-47.

"They were just too advanced for us," McCurdy said. He was encouraged, however, by the performance of sophomore Rick Rojas, who finished seventh in Friday's race and stuck with the Penn leaders until little more than a mile remained. "Rojas was running all by himself against the state of Pennsylvania," McCurdy quipped last night.

First Time

Expected to run for the first time this year is returning letterman Bobby Seals. Seals, who missed the first two meets because of a leg injury, was slated to be among the Crimson's first three runners this fall.

The return and performance of Seals, and the possible returns to action by juniors Jeff Brokaw, George Barker, and Mark Connolly in later meets will be one of the telling factors in Harvard's success this fall.

Brokaw, Barker, and Connolly are all nursing injuries. Barker, however, may run today, but only for the exercise.

The running maturation through two meets of sophomores Freddie Linsk and Jere Hines might also be a source of improvement for the Harvard team. Both number among the top seven Crimson men, and must perform better if the Crimson is not to be offset by the depth of some of its rivals.

14 Miles

Hines said Saturday that he is trying to become a more aggressive runner and hopes to lead at the two-mile today. He ran a 14-mile workout on his own on Sunday.