If the entire Big Three Track and Field Championships were a race, you could say the Harvard women's track team got off to a bad start.

But, as the meet progressed Saturday afternoon at Gordon Indoor Track and Tennis Center, the Crimson recovered to squeak past Princeton by four points. The final score of the meet was Harvard 56, Princeton 52, and Yale 40. YALE (MEN)  18 HARVARD  49 PRINCETON  102 HARVARD  49

Although the men were hampered with injuries and finished second to Princeton, 102-49-18, the challenging Ivy League competition brought both Harvard teams to a higher level as it produced three school records and personal bests just in time for Heptagonal Championship next weekend.

As doubtful as it may have seemed in the beginning of the meet, the women battled through, defeating a talented Tiger roster. YALE (WOMEN)  40 HARVARD  56 PRINCETON  52 HARVARD  56

"The beginning of the meet was filled with problems coming up," co-captain Margaret Schotte said. "Some people had to pull out of their races last minute because they were sick with the flu."

Harvard Coach Frank Haggerty successfully reshuffled some runners, which resulted in more points than the team anticipated.

Of all the people moved around, sophomore Brenda Taylor was the most successful. She came in third in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.38 seconds, captured first in the 55-meter hurdles and finished second in the 400, just .02 seconds behind Princeton's Bynia Reed. She capped off the day by helping to break the women's school mile-relay record with a time of 3:45.27.

"She had a great day," Schotte said. "She practically scored half of our points for us."

Co-captain Heather Hanson came in first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.90, along with second in the 55-meter dash Sophomore Marna Schutte came in just behind Hanson in the 200-meter.

Sophomore jumper Dora Gyorrfy captured firsts in both the high jump and triple jump. She finished at a disappointing--for her--6 feet, 1.5 inches in the high jump then broke her own school record in the triple jump with a length of 12.57 meters. Gyorrfy jumped at a level beyond the reach of her competition, with the second-place Princeton jumper at 11.74.

The Crimson won key points in the 3,000-meter, with sophomore Senta Burton finishing first with 10:08.77 and freshman Erin Leonard coming in third at 10:16.68.

Freshman Loni Sherwin won the pole vault at 2.75 meters. Sophomore Mary Unsworth finished third in the mile at 5:02.48. And junior thrower Kristy Johnson came in third in the shot at 12.10 meters.

The Harvard men's team did its best considering the impact injuries had on its roster, but Princeton's depth was too much. The Tigers swept the 800-meter, pole vault, and high jump.

"We knew it was going to be hard," co-captain Joe Ciollo said. "We were really disadvantaged. We did pretty well for what we had."

Harvard was missing junior middledistance runner Darren Dinneen, throwers senior Ken Hughes and freshman David Grimm, and sophomore sprinter Chuck Nwokocha, a usual contender in the 55-meter dash who was out due to a temperamental hamstring.