For the Harvard cross-country team, it was a meet that had to be won. After bowing to four successive opponents in two successive meets, last Saturday's Brown meet loomed as a do-or-die match, a watershed which just had to be crossed, if the season or any part of it was to be salvaged.

And they did it. Despite lackluster previous performances, despite the loss of two of the team's top players because of illness and injury on the day prior to the meet, the Harriers managed to pull one out of the hat, outrunning Brown, 24-35.

The main feature of Harvard's win was surprise, the kind of surprise that results from unexpected excellance on the part of junior team members and unknowns. Despite the loss of junior Marc Meyer, who sprained an ankle on Thursday, and promising freshman Noel Seidmore, who began a bout with viral pneumonia last week, the new and unknown names of Finn, Leftus and McCroskey saved the day by filling out the roster of top Crimson finishers.

Sean McCracken of Brown finished the race first, and comfortably enough, at 24:18. Crimson top gun Reid Eichner had been duelling with McCracken throughout much of the race, but lost ground late and came in at 24:40. Another Bruin, Tim Radcliffe, took third.

Shortly thereafter, a mob of finishers crossed the line almost together, most of them wearing crimson shirts. Harvard's Ed Sheehan, followed closely by teammate Thad McNulty, took third and fourth places respectively.

Another Harvard pair quickly followed. Brian Finn, the afternoon's real success story, grabbed the fifth slot, having run the best race of his Harvard career. He was shadowed by captain Stein Rafto who finished seventh. Another Brown finisher, Steve Moore, came in eighth, interrupting the Harvard progression. But not for long, however: Dave Loftus and Guy McCroskey wrapped up the ninth and tenth slots respectively for the Crimson.