And if you get a few days, sit down with Fusco to discuss all the honors he's won as a Harvard star. If you're short on time, you can skip all the stuff about the three-time. All American honors, the four-time. All Ivy honors and the Ivy and ECAC Rookie of the Year honors. All you really need to know about to appreciate just how good Mark Fusco is, is the final award he received in his collegiate career--the Hobey Baker award.

Hockey's answer to the Heisman Trophy and given annually to the finest college hockey player, the Hobey Baker was given to Fusco at the NCAA championship tournament in March, and proved a fitting ending to his college career. But he vows to continue in the game--he will decide between the Olympic trials and a pro career later this month.

Adam Dixon

It isn't every year that the Harvard track team loses an Adam Dixon to graduation. Three-time All-Americans don't come easy in any sport or at any school, so one can see why Dixon is special.

Truth be told, the Wilton, Conn., native is one of the most exciting and strongest performers ever to grace a Harvard track. He is currently among the top middle-distance runners in the nation and has an outside chance at the 1984 Olympics.

Shortly before retiring a year ago after 30 years of coaching Harvard track teams, Bill McCurdy observed that Dixon had "more athletic ability than anybody I've coached." Current Coach Frank Haggerty agrees: "Adam is one of the greatest performers we've ever had, without question."

Why the accolades? Dixon holds seven Crimson records in middle distance events. Two years ago he set an American record in the 1000 meters at a Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet. He is also the quintessential team performer, often running in three or four races for a given meet. When he set the 1000 meter record, for example, the lanky senior was running in his second race of the day.

Despite his accomplishments, including 1500-meter victories in the IC4A's in 1981 and 1983 and captaining the 1981 cross-country team, Dixon has had a roller coaster career at Harvard. A foot injury incurred during a dual meet with Army sidelined the track star for 14 months. At the time vying to become the top collegiate middle distance runner; after the injury many counted Dixon out of the running.

Then he came back. After taking a year off from college, Dixon was the sole representative of the Harvard men's track team at the Nationals last weekend in Houston. Earlier this season he ran a 3:57.6 over 1600 meters as part of a relay, a performance which translates into a 3:58.9 mile.

The Crimson mile record is the one honor which has eluded Dixon. Fifteen years ago Jim Baker covered the distance in 4:00.2, and no one has topped it since. Because of the metric system, Dixon hasn't had many chances, but few doubt he has the capability to run a sub-four-minute mile. Dixon is likely to have his final chance when he last dons a Crimson uniform for the Cambridge/Oxford meet in England 10 days from now. For Adam Dixon, an athlete who will be sorely missed, the mile record would just be icing on the cake.

Howard Sands

They tell a story around the Harvard tennis courts about the day three years ago when President Bok ventured to watch a Crimson match. According to Harvard men's tennis Coach Dave Fish: "He came down and was extremely taken by Howard Sands. He described Howard as the ultimate Harvard tennis player--not very big, not very strong, but smart as hell."

Bok's early scouting report was accurate. Sands was so good, in fact, that for almost the entire four years he spent at Harvard, he held a firm grasp on the Crimson's number one singles spot--a feat virtually unheard of at most major tennis powers.

Of course, when Sands first took the courts here four years ago, Harvard was no tennis power. But he helped change that.

In his time in Cambridge, the Harvard squad went from being a very mediocre club to one that by this season's end could compete with the nation's finest. And while fellow seniors Adam Beren and Warren Grossman played a key role in the team's climb, the major spark proved to be Sands.

Today, Sands proudly looks back on his days here, knowing that he has achieved his four-year goal. "When we beat Clemson at the end of this year--when Clemson was ranked eighth in the nation--I knew we had achieved the long-term goal; we had finally reached a level of national caliber."

While it took the squad several years to reach such prominence, Sands quickly achieved recognition by knocking off several of the country's top players. And in doing so, the Los Angeles native became the first Harvard All American tennis player since the 1920s. In fact, the giant killer managed the feat three times, becoming Harvard's only triple All American netman.

What Fish says has been Sand's greatest asset has been his desire to win. "He applied himself and dedicated himself more than anyone I've ever coached," Fish says.

"To be good you have to hate losing a lot more than you like winning," says Sands, whose losses here have been few and far between.

Now Sands, who picked up the game at age six will move up the ladder. The Quincy House resident turned professional just last week and will begin touring this summer.