Trackmen Ambush Army 'Clads, 87-67

At least it was a contest. Army really didn't stand a chance--outflanked in the field and ambushed on the track. But the Cadets didn't surrender until after the 220 yard dash near the end of the meet. Harvard only picked up 87 points, but those 87 were 20 more that the Cadets could muster, and the thinclads returned triumphant from Saturday's match.

"We managed to exploit their weaknesses in the field by taking 34 out of 36 points in the jumping," Coach Edgar Stowell said yesterday. "But it was still nip and tuck all the way."

It wasn't the usual run of the mill Crimson victory either. A few new men got into the act. Most notably, Leon Sharpe, often a second fiddler to Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace's antics, stole first place in the triple jump, with his 47 ft. 11 1/2 in., and also notched a second place in the long jump.

As far as pure point contributions, Jay Hughes chipped in the most, taking first laurels in both the shot put and the hammer throw. Quarter-miler Nick Leone performed similarly on the track, capturing first place in the 440 dash, and then coming back to anchor the mile relay.

In this relay, the baton squad had trouble starting off, falling back a bit after John Maggio's opening leg. Steve Brown held his own, handing off to Joel Peters, who chopped a few feet off of Army's ten-yard lead. Then strong man Leone took off like a bullet, whittling down a ten yard lead, and then passing his Army rival near the finish.

Harvard pole-vaulter Blayne Heckel also performed some exciting acrobatics, racking up first place with a 15 ft. 6 in. vault, and coming back to take third place in the long jump.

Of course Vanderpool-Wallace and Mel Embree reached their point quotas, with VPW breaking a new field and meet record with his 24 ft. 9 3/4 in. jump and Embree settling for 6 ft. 6 in. in the high jump. "The wind was coming right into the bar, and his shoulder was bothering him so he stopped at 6 ft. 6 in.," Stowell explained after the meet.

High jumping John McCulloh picked up three more points tallying second place in the high jump, to complete Crimson field domination.

Ric Rojas provided the long distance heroics, fighting both wind and a couple of find West Point milers, to grab first place with a 4:14. Shoe problems made Sam Butler settle with a third place in the high hurdles. The number one Harvard hurdler came back with a victory in the intermediate hurdles.

The win leaves the Crimson with a few days idle to prepare for the Heptagonals in Philadelphia next weekend. Harvard could be a clear pick for at least top three in the meet, although strong-running Navy squad must be favored.