Unlike the sun, the Harvard men's track and field team managed to shine Saturday afternoon at Harvard Stadium. Contending with a driving rain and frigid temperatures, the thinclads emerged from their outdoor opener with a surprisingly lopsided 100-63 victory over Princeton.
The Crimson dominated the field events and the long-distance races in avenging their slim, one-point loss to the Tigers during the indoor season.
While the other thinclads watched their skin turn seven shades of red, the Harvard jumping contingent was breezing past its Princeton counterparts in the comfortable confines of the Indoor Track and Tennis complex.
Sola Mahoney led a Harvard sweep in the triple jump with a 46-ft., 10 1/2-in. leap. "The triple jump was the turning point," coach Bill McCurdy said after the meet. "The sweep gave us the early cushion we needed."
Mahoney, who also placed first in the long jump, strained a ligament and may not be ready for the Northeastern meet Tuesday afternoon. "Everybody gives a little extra against Princeton. I may have over-extended myself," Mahoney said.
The inclement weather prevented outstanding times in the track events, although most of the runners from both teams made record-breaking sprints to the locker room after their events.
On the track, Tiger sprinter Mike Sherber had the most success at dodging the raindrops. The Princeton sophomore easily won the 400-meter and 200-meter dashes with times of 48.9 and 21.9 seconds, respectively. Harvard prevailed in the 100-meter dash, as Joe Salvo just nipped Princeton's Remo Diagioni.
The highlight of the afternoon came in the 1500-meter race. The spectators, who, if gathered collectively, would barely have occupied Row J of Section 32, reached their emotional peak as Crimson thinclads Thad McNulty and Adam Dixon battled to the tape for the top spot. McNulty held off Dixon's charge by one-tenth of a second to win in 3:55.8.
Sophomore Lance Miller turned in a strong performance for the Crimson, preventing a Tiger sweep in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles by holding on for second place, despite a furious finish by Princeton springer James Hillbert.
Miller said after the meet. "I think the weather might have helped me. We've been practicing outside for the past two weeks and were better prepared for it than they were."
Joe Pellegrini led the Crimson's domination of the field events with a 164-ft. to 154-ft., 5-in. win in the discus over his brother from Princeton. Dave: Other field firsts came from Tom Lenz (hammer), Gary Quantock (shot), Mike Stewart (javelin) and captain Geoff Stiles (vault)
Striders Peter Fitzsimmons, Ed Sheehan and John Chafee also picked up five points for Harvard, coming home first in the steeplechase, 5000-meter and 800-meter, respectively.
Come rain or shine, the Harvard men take their 1-0 record into a meet with tough archrival Northeastern. Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the Stadium.
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