Never judge a book by its cover.

And never judge a cross country race from its first 300 yards.

That was the lesson at Franklin Park yesterday, as the Harvard men's cross country team sprinted out of the gate and then faded back to see Dartmouth breeze to an easy victory in the Ivy League dual meet.

Dartmouth, buoyed by a superb performance by Frank Powers, won the meet handily by a 19 to 44 count.

Powers strided to an easy, even-paced victory. He passed through one mile in 5:05, three miles in 14:57, and finished the five-mile race in 24:48, 16 seconds ahead of Harvard's Paul Kent.

But after Kent, it was a sea of Green. A string of 12 Dartmouth runners flowed over the finish line before the next Cantab made it across.

The win wasn't surprising considering Dartmouth has the best team in the Ivies--and has an excellent shot to capture the Heptagonal Championship at Van Cortlandt Park in New York November 1.

The Crimson looked at the race strategically. It employed the fast start to avoid dropping back early, a common happening in meets earlier in the season.

"We've been working on taking it to teams in the first two miles, because after the first two miles the places don't usually change," said Harvard Captain Paul Kent, who ran a personal-best time of 25:04 and was the only Cantab to beat any of Dartmouth's top 13 athletes.

Last Wednesday, the Crimson practiced on the Franklin Park course and worked on getting fast starts and maintaining a quick pace early over the hilly terrain.

Although the Big Green's depth was too much for Harvard, the strategy did pay off at the start of the race--and by the end, Harvard runners were grouped much closer together than they had been in previous outings.

The Crimson may have showed Dartmouth some of what the future might hold. Three of Harvard's top four runners yesterday were freshmen.

Yardlings John Oja, Brian Cann, and Eric Davis all ran excellent races to score points for Harvard.

Kent refuses to concede the Heps to Dartmouth. "In a dual meet, Dartmouth is tough," he said. "But in a big meet like the Heps, they're beatable."

At Franklin Park

Five-mile course

Dartmouth 19, Harvard 44

Winner: Frank Powers, Dartmouth, 24:48

Harvard Finishers: Paul Kent, 2nd Place, 25:04; John Oja, 14, 26:29; Brian Cann, 15, 26:33; Eric Davis, 16, 27:01; Adam Mendelsohn, 17, 27:01; Seth Goldman, 18, 27:25.

At Franklin Park

Five-kilometer Course

Harvard 26, Dartmouth 32

Winner: Jenny Stricker, Harvard, 17:37 (course record; old record set Oct. 11, 1985, Lisa Welch, Boston University, 17:38)

Other Harvard Finishers: Jody Dushay, 4th Place, 18:46; Lois Brommer, 6, 19:00; Leslie Cooper, 7, 19:01; Katie Toner, 8, 19:09; Alison Keller, 9, 19:14; Merri Green, 11, 19:51.