Penn Thinclads Capture Heps; Crimson Deadlocks for Fourth

The Penn thinclads scored in 12 of 14 events Saturday to easily capture the Heptagonals championship with 54 points, 14 more than host and runner-up Cornell, Navy placed third and Harvard tallied 19 points to finish deadlocked with four other teams in fourth.

The Crimson again relied on its strong suit, the field events, for the bulk of its scoring. Despite the absence of two of its brightest stars, Blayne Heckel and Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace (both sidelined with leg injuries), the field corps picked up sixteen of the nineteen Crimson points.

Harvard superman Mel Embree soared seven feet in the high jump for the only Crimson victory. Embree topped a relatively weak field, but was still named one of the meet's outstanding performers because his leap established a new Heptagonals record.

Cornell's Jim Leonard was also honored, as he bounded a record-smashing 51 ft. 8 1/2 in. in the triple jump. Harvard's Ahmed Kayali placed third in the event, five feet behind the winner.

The 35-pound weight throw was the Crimson's most productive event. Dan Jiggetts heaved the weight 61 ft. 2 1/2 in. for the second-place silver medal and Steve Niemi picked up the bronze.

The Crimson was a nearly non-existent force on the track. Joel Peters racked up one point in the 600, negotiating the distance in 1:13.4. Jeff Campbell blazed a stunning 1:54.8 third leg in the two-mile relay, leading a Crimson quarter to fourth for Harvard's other two track points.