Crimson Harriers Top Green as Gridders Lose

The Harvard varsity cross country runners put together a solid team effort and soundly thrashed a strong Dartmouth squad, 23-33, here yesterday.

Seniors Jim Keefe and Bill Muller led the harriers to victory with a 1-2 finish. Keefe traveled the 4.8 miles around the idyllic Hanover golf course in 23 minutes 19 seconds, while Muller's time was 23:33.

This marked the sixteenth year that the Crimson has outrun the Dartmouth long-distance men. The win improved the Harvard record to 3-5, after the harriers had started the season 0-5.

Varisty coach Bill McCurdy expressed his pleasure with the triumph, saying, "Nobody could have figured we'd go 1-2 in this meet," after the strong performances of Dartmouth runners Chris Peisch and Andy Walker in previous contests.

Yesterday, Peisch and Walker finished third and fourth, respectively, for the Big Green.

The other scorers for Harvard were freshmen Stein Rafto, who finished fifth; junior Bill Okerman in seventh place, and sophomore Jeff Campbell, who ended up eighth.

McCurdy said the times at this year's Harvard-Dartmouth meet were slower than in past years because this was a careful, tactical race, instead of a wide-open affair.

The Big Green moved out quickly to begin the race. Walker took the lead by running the first mile in about 4:30, with Peisch in second position.

But, Captain Jim Keefe said, "We expected them to go out that fast," and the Crimson runners stayed within striking distance during the early part of the race.

Near the two mile mark, Keefe, Muller, and Rafto moved up to challenge the Dartmouth front runners. After about three miles, Keefe and Muller took the lead and held it to the finish line.

"Bill Muller ran one of his best races of the year today," McCurdy said. He added that Rafto also turned in a surprisingly good performace.

The Harvard runners were able to stay with the fast early pace because of their experience in similar races against Providence, U.Mass, and Northeastern earlier in the season according to the Crimson coach.