The Harvard men's cross-country team came away with only half a victory at Friday's tri-meet with Brown and Northeastern in Providence, R.I.

While the Crimson soared past Northeastern, 40-20, it lost to Brown, 21-34.

"We were not gung-ho for this race," said senior Captain Robert Failla. "This was not a big meet for us, although we would have liked to have beaten Brown."

Harvard's top runner was freshman Brain Walsh who placed fifth with 26:27.

The next four Crimson runners to place were senior William Bland (26:29, sixth), Failla (26:31, seventh), junior Douglas Lanzo (26:53, 10th) and junior Steven Kelts (26:57, 11th).

Some Harvard runners said that Brown's course was unusually difficult to run on.

"Brown had a definite home course advantage," said Failla. "The course was tight, and our guys were running off the course."

"It was the toughest course I ever ran. There were a lot of hills and sharp turns," said Walsh.

Despite the defeat, Harvard anticipates a successful season.

"The team is slowly starting to gel together," said Failla. "We're looking forward to the upcoming October, November meets. I think we can beat Brown at the Ivy championships at the end of the year."