Unbeaten freshman Anne Sullivan led the Harvard women's cross country team to victory over 25 other area colleges in the Massachusetts Associated Intercollegiate Athletic Woman's New England Championships in Amherst yesterday.

Harvard revenged its only loss this season by stretching past UMass to win 68-71. Middlebury College ran a close third with 78 points.

Sullivan, who has cut the women's Franklin Park record back at every home race this year, toppled the UMass course record by 58 seconds to 16:41 yesterday.

"Sullivan is fantastic," head coach Pappy Hunt said yesterday. "I can't say enough about her."

Her swift pace inspired the top eight runners to finish better than the old course record of 17:39. Johanna Foreman, the other fleet-footed freshman besides the winner, steamed from sixth to second place in the final mile, crossing at 17:02, to ice the victory for Harvard.

Not Bad At All

Sarah Linsley, Harvard's third finisher, took eighth place overall at 17:31. Kat Taylor, Judy Rabinowitz, Sarah Robinson and Maureen Devlin were all in the top 60. "Not bad for 225 runners," Hunt said.

"We still miss Karla Amble, lost to that bone injury, but our girls did not hell of a job to beat the tough UMass team in Amherst," Hunt added. Amble was hurt in the season's opener against UMass.

Lauding the squad even further, Hunt said it "really deserved to win today. They have the potential to be one of the top five clubs in the East."

The team received a small trophy for their regional championship and each member was awarded a plaque. "They are all on cloud nine after this one, and so am I," Hunt said.

"But give all the credit to the girls," concluded Hunt. "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."

Does this coach sound happy?