Would the Chicago Bulls expect much from themselves if they played without Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan? Could the Dallas Cowboys stomp the Buffalo Bills if Emmit Smith and Troy Aikman were watching from the sidelines?

Saturday afternoon the Harvard women's cross country team traveled down the pike to Boston College where they competed in the Boston College invitational at Franklin Park. The Crimson entered the meet short-handed because of a rash of early season injuries to upperclassmen and Harvard Coach Frank Haggerty's decision not to race his freshmen.

Senior captain Alais Griffin, sidelined by tendinitis and IT Band problems, was not discouraged by a less than spectacular finish.

"It was a difficult race," Griffin said. "At least three people who usually score well for us weren't able to compete. It was a tough atmosphere for our runners to compete in, especially against teams like [South Florida, Kansas, and Providence]. We shouldn't look at this as something to be discouraged about."

Haggerty's decision to sit the freshmen was made to protect the young athletes from wear or possible injury in non-league competition. Griffin pointed out that at least one or two freshmen will be expected to contribute significantly for the varsity top five.

Junior Kelly Benke ran well in the top spot for Harvard, finishing 20th. She was followed by sophomore Alex Delaney and junior Meredith Fitzgerald, who finished 30th and 37th, respectively. The squad is still very optimistic about its potential. Benke feels strongly about the Crimson's chances of challenging defending champion Dartmouth for the Ivy title.

"You haven't seen the best of us," Benke said. "When we're back and at full strength we're gonna be awesome. If we're going full force and everyone is running we have as good a chance as anyone of winning [the Heptagonals]."