There are dramatic returns and there are dramatic returns.

And then there are the performances of senior Mark Henry and junior Cliff Sheehan, who made their first appearances on the Harvard track in over a year in Saturday's 84-52 victory over Boston College.

Both smashed Crimson records and qualified for the NCAA meet in March--Henry in the triple jump and Sheehan in the 3000-meter run.

These two performances, combined with a strong effort by the entire Harvard men's indoor track team, gave the squad the victory in its home opener.

For the women, however, the homecoming wasn't quite as sweet, as they fell to the Eagles, 58-1/2-41, 1/2.

The story of the afternoon, though, was Henry and Sheehan.

Neither had competed last season--Henry was off all last year, while Sheehan took a leave in the spring to train for the Olympics--but it was clear last week when they returned to action against Army that during their time away they hadn't lost a thing.

Henry began his record-breaking afternoon with a convincing win in the long jump, leaping 23-ft., 9-1-2, in., to beat Eagle Robert Davis by three inches and qualify for the IC4A meet.

However, it wasn't until his second attempt in the triple jump that Henry began to realize he could have an outstanding afternoon.

"My first jump felt really bad and it turned out to be 48.ft., 8.in., Henry explained. "My next jump didn't feel too good either and that was a 49-footer. That's when I said to myself that this could be it and I put together a 50-footer."

His 50-11, 8-3-4, in hop skip and jump was better than the second, place leap by more than four feet, and broke the Crimson mark set in 1981.

Sheehan's record-breaking performance was first as dramatic. From the start of the 3000, it was clear that it would be a fast race, Sheehan, teammate Paul Gompers and B.C.'s John Clopeck broke away from the pack and traded the lead for most of the race.

With less than form laps to go, Gompers made his move, took the lead and tried to stretch it out. But by the nine the gun cracked to signal the last lap. Sheehan was out in front, and with his powerful kick, no one had a player of catching him.

When he broke the tape. 8:02,4 after he began the race, he had smashed the school record by over 10 seconds.

Even without other historic performances, the rest of the men's squad had quite a meet. Despite competing without many distance runners, the thinclads took first place in every event but the weight throw, shot put, 800, and the relays.