The Crimson harriers conclude their Ivy League schedule this afternoon with a trimeet versus Yale and Princeton at Princeton.
Harvard has won its last three Ivy meets, improving its season record to 3-5 in the process, but the harriers will be hard pressed to overcome a powerful Tiger squad today.
Boasting a 6-1 record, Princeton is regarded as one of the favorites to win next week's Heptagonals in New York. The Tigers' lone defeat was a one-point decision to a Penn team that trounced the Crimson earlier in the season.
The Tiger triumphs have come at the expense of Rutgers, Farleigh Dickenson, Seton Hall, Columbia, Fordham, and St. John's.
Power to Spare
Princeton's premier runners are John Cabell, who is undefeated this fall, and captain Ron Bunnell. Ron VanderKraats, the Tigers' best performer last year, has been relegated to the number three position.
Yale strikes little fear in the hearts of either the Crimson or the Tigers. The Elis are currently 0-5, and their best runner will be sidelined with an injury this afternoon.
Harvard, on the other hand, will be at full strength for this meet. "We've finally licked the injury bug," Crimson coach Bill McCurdy said yesterday. "The only thing that's bothering us now are papers and exams, which tend to disrupt practices."
The team is coming off one of its best efforts of the season, a 23-33 thrashing of Dartmouth, in which Harvard took five of the top eight places. Captain Jim Keefe and senior Bill Muller swept the first two places for the Crimson.
McCurdy is wary of the Tigers, a team which has already proven itself as swift and deep. "On the basis of the Penn meets," McCurdy said, "it looks like Princeton, Harvard, and Yale, in that order."
Princeton mentor Al Ellis refused to discount the Crimson in today's meet. "Yale won't be a factor in terms of team score," he said yesterday, "but the real contention should be between Princeton and Harvard."
Yale Coach Robert Giegengack agreed with Ellis's assessment. "The best we can do," he said, "is third."
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