The Harvard women's indoor track season opened with a whimper Saturday as the University of New Hampshire (UNH) clobbered the Crimson at the ITT, 70-35.

Harvard held its own in the field events and in the distance running, but the Wildcats' superior overall strength gave them first place in nine of the 13 events.

Taking top-honors in the shot put with a Harvard record-throw of 40 ft., 9 3/4 in., freshman Kimberly Johnson started the meet off on the right foot for the Crimson. Debbie Vogel's 30-ft., 6-in. toss gave Harvard a 1-3 finish and an early 6-3 lead.

Steady

After UNH picked up a nine-tenths of a second victory in the 880 relay, Karla Amble put the home team back in the driver's seat by coasting home to first place in the mile with a Crimson record time of 5:05.1. Freshman Kristen Mertz's third-place finish (5:25.6) once again gave the Crimson the lead, 12-11.

Yet another record fell in the next event, as the Crimson's Susan Hewitt and Liane Rossell placed one-two in the high jump with identical leaps of 5 ft., 2 in. Hewitt won because she had fewer misses.

Blitzkrieg

Harvard's 20-12 lead soon collapsed, though, in the wake of a UNH blitzkrieg. The Wildcats seized victory by snatching eight of the last nine events without much trouble.

Only Anne Sullivan's first in the two-mile run, and Sarah Linsley and Martha Clabby's 2-3 finish in the 880 kept things respectable.

Sullivan had little difficulty in making the transition from cross country to indoor track, coasting to a half-lap victory in the two-mile in 11:16.8.

Coach Pappy Hunt said a lack of depth in the sprinting and the void left by freshman distance star Paula Newnham, who missed Saturday's meet due to illness, added to UNH's margin of victory.

"Paula is a key person," Hunt said. "She's good for 15 or 20 points."

Hunt's outlook for the season remains optimistic. "They're good kids, look at the records they've set," he said.