The Greater Boston Championships have traditionally given area colleges (Boston College, Brandeis, Boston University, MIT, Northeastern, Tufts and Harvard) the opportunity to fight it out for the bragging rights of Boston collegiate track.

But winning isn't everything for the Harvard men's and women's track squads (1-2, 2-1 respectively)--at least not in this weekend's 27th annual running of the GBC's. While a first-place finish would be nice, the Crimson would be content just to have some questions answered.

Both Harvard squads last competed on the circuit January 4th. The men dropped a dual meet to Northeastern, while the women defeated the Huskies. Since then, the Crimson has been competing exclusively in another venue--the exam room.

While such academic exercises undoubtedly conditioned Crimson minds, some bodies suffered. During reading period and exam weeks, team practices were strictly optional.

"If the kids can come down [during exam period], fine," Track Director Frank Haggerty said. "If they can't, they can't. There are some [team members] I haven't seen since Northeastern."

Most team members, according to men's Co-Captain Doug Boyd, have been training consistently since the Northeastern meet.

But practice and competition are two different animals, and this weekend's championships should give Harvard an idea of how well it is prepared for the upcoming indoor schedule. Harvard is slated to compete in five difficult meets, including the Heps and the IC4A championships, between now and March 7.

Haggerty said he hopes to be somewhat open-minded about the Crimson's performance: "It's our first meet back from exams. It shows us where people are coming from after exams. It does give an indication as to how we're going to do."