The hilly course proved difficult for Harvard's cross country teams during a triangular meet against Brown and Northeastern last Friday at a Brown triangular in Providence.
Nonetheless, the meet served as an indicator of the teams' strengths and weaknesses as it prepares for next week's meet with league-rivals Yale and Princeton.
The men's team was disappointed with its performance, despite sophomore Ian Carswell's first-place finish. He completed the hilly five-mile course with a time of 25:40. Brian Walsh was Harvard's second-best runner with a time of 26:18, which placed him ninth overall.
The hilly course was expected to help the Crimson, as it had been doing a lot of strength training, rather than speed work. Fatigue from hard training without any rest days, and the strength of the Brown squad, however, proved too much.
The squad's sentiments were best expressed by Matthew Bellizzi.
"We didn't do very well," he said. "We should have raced them [Brown] better."
The women's team was very pleased with its results.
It placed first, edging Brown, 27-29.
Sophomores Jenny Martin and Karen Goeteze finished in second and third place, respectively, each with a time of 18:34, while fellow sophomore Christine Sheppard-Sawyer was Harvard's third best finisher.
The meet in Providence was the first race back for Captain Kelly Benke, who was injured. After a week of hard training. Benke did her best to establish a fast pace for the first half of the race, hoping that her teammates would be able to profit from her efforts. She dropped back from there, and her teammates ran on to win.
The women are looking forward to the home meet against Yale and Princeton next week at Franklin Park. Benke said she feels they can "improve upon last year's one-point loss to Princeton."
If the next two weeks of training go well, and if the Crimson can avoid costly injuries, both the men and the women feel that they have the potential to do very well against their league rivals.
The difficult training and tough course in Providence should only make the teams stronger better prepared for a tough Princeton squad next week.
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