Captains: Brian Cann, Nancy Lutz, Paul Mayer, James Russell, and Katie Toner

1987 Record: Men 8th at Heps Women 3rd at Heps

Home Meets: McCurdy Track

The Harvard men's and women's track teams are heading south this spring so that they can head north in the standings.

The teams will hold double training sessions in Houston, Texas, for the first part of their spring break, then will compete in outdoor invitational meets at Texas A&M and Rice.

Both the men's and women's teams show more potential than they have in recent years. They are young teams, fielding strong freshman and sophomore classes.

"Our inexperience showed in the indoor Heptagonal meet, but people will improve as we proceed to the outdoor season," Coach Frank Haggerty said. "The future," he added, "is looking brighter."

On the men's side, the Crimson's strongest events lie in throwing areas, including the hammer throw, shot put and javelin throw.

Co-Captain James Russell is one of the top hammer throwers in the nation. Russell recently placed seventh in the 35-Ib. weight throw at the NCAA indoor championships, and is favored to qualify for the outdoor nationals in the hammer throw for the fourth consecutive year.

Freshman Nicolas Sweeney is Harvard's top discus thrower. Haggerty predicts, "Nic Sweeney should be one of the top in the league."

Harvard's leading javelin throwers include Matt Collins and Shawn Carew. Russell, Sweeney, Collins and Carew combine with the rest of the throwers to form the backbone of the men's team. "It's a good crew to work with," says Russell. "We help each other along."

Several of the team's top athletes--including Frank Courtney, Mark Gragg, Tim Langen, Jon Lewis, Guth, and Sean Turbitt--are suffering from an array of injuries.

Turbitt, who was a major contributor to the team during the indoor season, has been suffering from an injured pelvic bone and will not return this season.

"Injuries hurt the team in terms of depth," Haggerty said. "We are spread thinly in certain events."

Harvard also suffers in another area--lack of experience. The Crimson is hurting for experience in the 400-meter hurdles, partly because of Don Lavigne's absence. Lavigne is on leave after competing on the U.S. bobsled team at the Olympic Games in Calgary. Freshman Allan Andrews will take Lavigne's place in this event.