Despite strong performances from each squad's top runner, the Harvard men's and women's cross-country teams had a tough time at the Heptagonal Championships on Friday.

The meet, which fields the eight Ivy League schools and Navy and consists of 80 runners in the men's and women's races, took place at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. It serves as the final tune-up for both teams before NCAA Regionals, which is the qualifying round for the NCAA Championship in Indiana later, at Franklin Park on November 13th.

Seniors Bethany Helms (5th, 18:14.7) and Dave Martin (6th, 25:05.8) provided the only bright spots for the Crimson, turning in the best finishes by individual Harvard men and women since 1995. But, altogether the teams ran less well than their top finishers did. The Harvard women finished fifth out of nine teams, its highest finish in recent years, and the men ninth of nine.

Harvard women

The Harvard women (130 points) beat Princeton (sixth place, 132) and Yale (seventh place, 165), two teams who beat the Crimson at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet earlier in the season.

Helms continues to run spectacularly for the Crimson. She placed 11th out of a field of 250 at the New England Championships two weeks ago, and she has been running well all season.

This week, Helms set a personal-best time for the course, beating her previous best by more than ten seconds. Her fifth-place finish earned her a spot on the All-Ivy team, an honor bestowed on the top twelve finishers.

In the last half-mile of the race, Helms initiated a strong kick that pushed her from 15th to fifth.