The Harvard men's swimming team captured a key ECAC match on Saturday when it defeated Army, 126-89, at Blodgett Pool.

The Crimson (6-1 overall, 4-0 ECAC, 2-0 Ivy) managed to win nine out of the 13 events to avenge last year's tough 58-55 loss to the Cadets at West Point, which was the only one of two losses Harvard suffered last year.

"I thought it was a good win to end the first half of the season," Co-Captain Chris Smith said. "We had a few goals to set for the season and one of bigesst goals was to beat Army."

Freshman Scott Jaffe led a Crimson contigent that was determined to prove that last year's loss was just a fluke. Not only did Jaffe qualify for the NCAA Championships held next spring with his time of 2:02.39 in the 200 breaststroke, but his time of 1:51.79 in the 200 individual medley set was good enough for him to capture that event also. His NCAA qualifying time in the breastroke was the fastest in the nation so far this year.

"I was pleased with the time," said Jaffe, referring to his mark which earned him a trip to Indianapolis April 7-9, "but I could have improved technically, which is something I have to work on. I'm sure I could beat my time."

Jaffe closed out the afternoon with another meet record. The winning time of 3:04.83 for Harvard's quartet of Jaffe, Keith Kaplan, Mark Shagena and Chris Smith in the 400 fresstyle relay bested Army's time by a full seven seconds.

Senior Jeff Peltier set another meet record in the 200 backstroke with his time of 1:53.56. Peltier also finished second in the 200 butterfly.

"The team this year against Army was totally different from last year," Peltier said. "Last year, it seems we were just a bunch of individuals on the pool deck. This year, we were more of a team."

Bingo

Other highlights of the meet included junior diver Pat Healy, who easily defeated the Cadets' top three divers (Brynt Parmeter, David Jones and Jim Walton) by more than 40 points in both the one and three-meter diving events.

As for the Crimson's performance overall, Harvard swimmers finished in the first three spots in three events and the first two spots in five events.

"We really pulled together," Peltier said. "We had something to prove against Army. We just stuck it to them."

After the Christmas break, the swimmers will set their sights on the second half of the season, which begins January 9 at Dartmouth.

"This [win against Army] is going to be a springboard for us," Peltier said. "It reassures us that we can come back." Russell Nabs First Place in Harvard Meet

In the second-annual Harvard Invitational track meet on Saturday, the Crimson got a chance to compete with some of the finest athletes in the Northeast, and came away very satisfied.