"Everybody on the team knows there's a lot of work ahead of us," Lem said. "Realistically, we have to work our tails off. We didn't get too much help as far as freshmen. Either they didn't get in or they chose another school."

This has created a tough situation for an athletic program on the rise. To compete with the other Ivy teams, the Crimson has to get a fair share of solid recruits.

"The other teams are getting the kids we're trying to get," Lem said. "We don't have any recruits coming in. It's not a good situation for us. The other teams are getting stronger. We may have some really close matches this year."

Where are those recruits? Well, they're going to be wearing the orange and gold of 1987 Ivy champion Princeton or the red and blue of 1987 Ivy runner-up Penn.

The recruiting problem isn't the only one the Crimson has. Harvard lost three key players to graduation last year.

The Crimson will open its third season at the Malkin Athletic Center against Boston College Thursday.

"We have to work our tails off, then see where it takes us," Lem said. "I think with a lot of work, we can have a pretty good season."

"We have to take it one game at a time," Co-Captain Mia Forman said. "We lost three key players from last years team. The youngers players and the bench will both have to play bigger roles this year."

After the season opener with B.C. on September 23, the Crimson will face Holy Cross and Fordham on September 24. Harvard last played Holy Cross in 1986, while the squad has never played Fordam. The spikers also have added Hofstra to an already beefed up schedule.

Cross Country

It's tough to improve on a 7-1 record, but that doesn't mean that women's cross country Coach Frank Haggerty won't try.

Captain Katie Toner returns after an injury-filled 1987 season to lead a strong women's cross country team. Juniors Eva Klohnen and Lise Vansen and sophomore Amber Duncan are the other returning runners with the fastest times last fall.

Meanwhile, the men's cross country team will try to improve upon last season's 3-5 finish. Captain Brian Caan will be supported by senior Richard Glew, juniors Brian Davis (the team's leading scorer in last year's IC4A Championships) and Jon Lewis, and sophomores Tim Langen, Hans Weber and Todd Wells.

The culmination of the cross country season will be November 12 when the men's team competes for the IC4A Championship and the women's team fights for the ECAC Championship in New Canaan, Conn.

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