What about the other teams?
The Harvard men's cross country team has never competed in the NCAA team championships, and a bid for the squad this year would be more than enough. Unlike the men, the women have run at the highest level and actually did quite well in 1983 with a fourth place in the NCAA tournament. But even though senior Alais Griffin, who qualified for the NCAA championships last year, returns this season, a team title is not very likely at all.
The men's water polo team believes that this could be the year it receives one of the two eastern bids to the NCAA's. Last year, Harvard beat powerhouse Brown for the first time in 20 years. But no matter how optimistic the team and co-captain Jeff Zimmerman are, an NCAA title is just not in the water for the Crimson.
The women's volleyball team has never won an Ivy championship and could never compete with the western powers anyway. Women's soccer made it to the quater final of the NCAA tournament in 1984, losing to Massachusetts 1-0, but has not played at that level for a long time.
The Other Seasons
In the winter there is, of course, men's ice hockey. The Crimson made it to the NCAA tourney last year but lost in the first round to Northern Michigan.
Under Athletic Director Bill Cleary '56, the Crimson skated all the way to a title and a trip to the White House in 1989, but it remains to be seen whether fourth-year coach Ronn Tomassoni will get to meet Bill Clinton or any other president. Olympian Ted Drury is gone, and the Crimson must find other offensive alternatives if Harvard wants to dethrone defending champion Maine.
Men's basketball Head Coach Frank Sullivan and his team would take part in March Madness if it won the Ivy title--but that's a big if. And with no Fab Five or even Fab One in sight, the crown is about as far away from Cambridge as the Siberian capital of Irkutsk.
Even if women's basketball won the Ivy championship, the Crimson would not automatically make the tourney, so you can forget a national title there, and men's and women's swimming have individual standouts, but both squads don't have the depth to challenge the Stanfords and Texases of the country.
Wrestling doesn't have the talent, and track doesn't have the speed.
Most of the spring sports teams are far from poised to win crowns, but hands down, Harvard's best shot of winning it all this year remains with the women's lacrosse team. All-American Liz Berkery '93 has left, but what is important is that head coach Carole Kleinfelder is still around (despite offers from Yale), and she has made Harvard into a national power with a legitimate shot at the title every year.
A Last Word
Joe Clark, you've made it hard for Harvard to accept its present and not-so-prominent position in the world of NCAA athletics and championship. But Joe, you also present Harvard with a symbol of how insignificant the number of championships a school wins is. You were the consummate amateur, and the bottom line is every college athlete should be one, too.