"Wait, slow down."

As a member of a varsity track team, you do not expect to hear this from your coach in the middle of a race.

However, when Northeastern came to Gordon Track and Tennis Center Saturday to face the Harvard men's and women's indoor track teams, things did not go as expected.

Sophomore Senta Burton and junior Kate Moynihan heard that shocking three-word phrase with three laps to go in the 3,000-meter race. They were leading the pack when their coach told them to save something for the four-by-800 relay.

"Our coach loves the strategy of the dual meets, calculating the number of points we could expect in each event and shuffling the lineups accordingly," co-captain Margaret Schotte said. NORTHEASTERN  45 HARVARD (MEN)  91 NORTHEASTERN  59 HARVARD (WOMEN)  67

"The relays were the most exciting part of the meet because the lineups changed 15 minutes before the races," co-captain Heather Hanson said. "The coach decided to try to win both the four-by-400 and the four-by-800. Northeastern has an excellent four-by-eight team, so he bumped [sophomore] Marna Schutte up from the 4x400 to the 4x800. It ended up being a good gamble, and we won both soundly."

The sweep in the relay events paved the way for a 67-59 come-from-behind victory for the women.

The four-by-800-relay squad--comprised of Schutte, Burton, Moynihan, and sophomore Mary Unsworth--earned the single most impressive win of the meet simply because of what the four members had done earlier in the day.

Schutte, usually a sprinter, had won the 400 and the 200--the latter in a sprint to the finish--before running the relay. Unsworth had won the mile in dramatic fashion with a final-lap kick and ran the 800 before the relay. Burton rant he mile as well as 3,000, while Moynihan won the 800 and the 3,000. Burton and Moynihan ran the relay a mere 20 minutes later.

"All of our distance runners ran three races, which is unheard of," Schotte said. "Every point counted. The amazing thing was the kick from our distance runners after all their events. It is smart running to conserve enough energy to have a kick left 25 minutes after a previous race."

Sophomore Brenda Taylor may have taken the prize for most events--running the 200, 400, 55-meter hurdles and four-by-400, a crucial race that Harvard won in come-from-behind fashion.

The short-staffing of the team was caused by continuing injuries to many members of the team. Although more people could have run, the meet was not important enough to rush recovery.

"This early in the season, we didn't need to slow anyone's return to full strength," Schotte said. "Everyone pulled through, and with this small team, it was a fantastic performance."

For the men's team, it was simply a fantastic performance, without any qualifying statements. Led by a strong freshman class, the Crimson romped 91-45.

"Last year's meet was much closer," said co-captain Joe Ciollo. "We expected a lot of the same, but the big story was the freshman class. They stepped up and took a lot of points."

The freshman paved the way in the sprint events. Kevin Worrell won the 55-meter hurdles and placed second in the 55-meter dash. Classmate Sam Hornblower won the 200 while Nnamdi Okike won the 400. In the field events, freshman David Grimm won his event--the 35-pound throw--and classmate Aaron Snead led the way in a Harvard sweep of the pole vault.

Given the strong performances by the freshman, the upperclassmen could not--and did not--disappoint.

Co-captain Joe Ciollo won the 500, junior Dominic Patillo won the 800 and co-captain Doug Lin won the mile in dramatic fashion thanks to a kick in the last lap.

In addition, senior Scott Muoio won the 3,000 and sophomore John Kraay took home first place in the shot put.

"One thing I am sure of is that Northeastern is better than B.C., and [Saturday's] result was the same," Ciollo said. "We rose to the occasion."

However, the dominating performance was impressive not only because of the margin of victory but also because of the margin of victory but also because of the circumstances.

"We haven't competed in a month but had a lot of personal bests," Ciollo said. "Everyone was very sharp."

With the win, the men's team solidifies its claim as best team in Boston, if not in the state of Massachusetts.

The women showed that they are at least the most determined.