There weren't a whole lot of surprises in 1995 for the Harvard cross country teams.

It was no great secret that junior captain Ian Carswell and senior Karen Goetze were darn good. Carswell was the defending Heptagonal Championships winner and an NCAA qualifier, while Goetze led Harvard to its first Harvard-Yale-Princeton triangular championship in eight years.

So when Carswell again went to the NCAAs, accompainied by Goetze in her first appearance, the Las Vegas bookies didn't lose their shirts. Taking place this year at Iowa State, Carswell took 17th place amidst windy conditions and gained All-American status. Goetze, meanwhile, was hampered by a stomach virus and could only muster 131st.

During the regular season, these two runners led their respective teams. The women went undefeated, whipping Princeton and Yale for the second straight year as well as Brown and Northeastern, while the men came in 3-1, facing the same opponents and only losing to Brown.

At Heptagonals, the women spurted to second-place, thanks to Goetze's fourth-place finish and good showings by junior Jenny Martin (eighth) and freshman Margaret Schotte (12th).

Dartmouth, however, literally ran away with the Heps title. The Big Green swept the top three spots as well as the No. 6 position, giving Dartmouth a super-low total of 23 points.

The Big Green, however, was the only Ivy team that could outrun the Crimson women. Brown (18-44), Yale (15-48) and Princeton (21-36) all fell by large margins as Harvard's deep team proved to be too much for them.

After Heps, Harvard went to the ECAC Championships at Franklin Park, from which runners could compete for the NCAAs. There, Goetze qualified provisionally with a time of 17:49 and eventually made the national field. Schotte (32nd), sophomore Margaret Angell (48th), senior Alexandra Delaney (56th) and Martin (77th) rounded out the Harvard finishers.

The men's team, however, didn't have the same luxury. Carswell and roommate Killian Lonergan were the stars on the team, finishing 1-2 in the HYPs and 1-9 at Heps, respectively.

Of the other runners, only captain Matt Bundle and senior Darin Shearer routinely reached high places. As a result, the Crimson didn't have the depth required of a top team.

This fact was hinted at in the HYPs, when Harvard beat Yale soundly, 21-35, but could only squeak by Princeton, 26-29. And at Heps, the Crimson could only muster sixth place, behind both the Tigers and the Elis.

Next came the IC4A's, the men's version of the ECAC Championships. There, Carswell came in seventh, giving him an automatic spot at NCAAs, and he was followed by Lonergan (51st), Bundle (77th), Shearer (111st) and sophomore Jamey Bianchi (151st).

Harvard Sports Stats 1995-96

W. Cross Country

Record: 4-0