Sophomore Carrie McGraw started off the race for the Crimson.

"It wasn't a traditional start, because it was a 160 meter track instead of a 200 meter track--we had to do two-and-a-half laps," McGraw said. "At the start there were no blocks, so we had to break right away. I had to fight a lot of people off, because the curves were so tight."

McGraw managed to keep close to the lead runner from St. John's, despite the unusual conditions.

"The track was hard to run, because it was banked much more than the one we're used to," McGraw said.

The second and third legs of the relay were run by Taylor and freshman Amanda Shanklin. When the baton was handed off to anchor Marna Schutte, the Crimson still lagged behind the Red Storm.

But Schutte passed the St. John's anchor on the final lap, and held on for the victory. Harvard won the heat with a time of 3:51.17, while St. John's finished at 3:52.06.

Though the Crimson relay team was competing in a lower-level heat, Harvard would still have finished third in the higher-level heat behind South Carolina and Seton Hall.

Still, the Crimson athletes were thrilled to be competing on the same track as such great athletes as current 100-meter and 200-meter champion Maurice Greene, who broke a Madison Square Garden record in the 60-meter dash on the same day.