If only they didn't look so good on paper, if only they hadn't been so good in the recent past.

Then the performance of the Harvard women's indoor track team this season wouldn't be so frustrating.

Injuries, illnesses, and leaves of absences have prevented the thinclads from competing at full strength, leaving them with a 1-2 record in dual meets and a fourth place finish in the Greater Boston Championships.

This year's squad is probably the most talented and could be the most balanced one to come along in quite a few years. The sprinting corps has been bolstered by the addition of some talented freshmen and the Crimson weight throwers have been having a very successful season.

However, Harvard's traditional strength has been its distance runners and the difference between last year's 6-1 team and this squad has been its performance in the longer races.

The transition from cross-country to indoor track is always difficult. There is the fatigue that linger after a grueling fall season. Cold weather and precipitation make running outdoors impossible, while the indoor track is tough on the knees.

However, this year the move inside has been more than difficult, it's been next to impossible. The distance corps sat out the first two meets, losses to Army and Boston College, to rest after the cross-country campaign.

Then in January and so far this month, many of the runners stayed on the sidelines as injuries and illness kept them out of competition.

Junior Jenny Stricker, the Harvard two-mile and 3000-meter record holder, missed the GBC's last Saturday because of problems with her achilles heel and has been unable to train this week because of a stomach virus.

Other distance standouts such as Kathy Good, who is taking the season off to write her thesis, Lois Bromer, who is taking the semester off from school, and freshman Kristin Perini, out with bursitis, have all been sorely missed.

Saturday's meet against Dartmouth and Brown at the Albert Gordon track could be the turning point. Perini should be back in action, and there's an outside chance that Stricker will also be running.

Back on Track

With distance runners Kate Wiley, Co-Captain Amy Simon, and Leslie Cooper--who all ran last week--also competing, the Crimson should be the favorite in the tri-meet and a victory this weekend could be the moraic booster the squad needs.

In the long run, the losses may actually have helped the thinclads. The freshmen sprinters, who faced the toughest competition they probably will face all season in the Boston College and Army meets, have gained valuable experience.