Track Squads Hoping to Ward Off Outdoor Injuries

Before St. Patty stumbed out of town prior to spring break, he better have remembered to leave a dash of his Irish charm behind--because if the men's and women's track teams are to have successful outdoor seasons, they can't afford to lose anyone to injury.

According to Head Coach Frank Haggerty, "A little luck could go a long way for us." The success of the outdoor season for both the men and the women may well balance on the outcome of one simple question: "Who can stay healthy?"

Although the lack of depth on this year's squad cannot be described in famine-like terms, neither team can afford to lose any key performers if it hopes to improve on indoor standings.

The men finished the indoor season in fifth place (out of 10 teams) at the Heps, despite several key individual performances. Co-Captain Doug Boyd (first in high jump), Cliff Sheehan (first in 1500 and distance medley relay, third in 3000) and Paul Kent (fourth in 5000, sixth in 3000) performed well, but most events ended without any Harvard runners in the top six scoring places.

"We had a decent shot at winning," said Haggerty, "but we had a few cases of the flu and just lacked the depth to fill in. So instead of scoring the 85-90 points we expected, we got 55."

The women also closed out the indoor season with a fifth place showing at the Heps, and, once again, a few key performers shouldered most of the burden.

Despite missing the 1500 and 3000 with a strained tendon in her calf, Jenny Stricker managed to win the 5000. Erin Sugrue displayed her versatility by placing second in the high jump, and third in both the triple jump and 55-meter hurdles.

For the fifth year in a row, the men and women spent their spring break in Houston, Texas. While that locale may have lacked the beaches and craziness of Ft. Lauderdale, the home of basketball's Twin Towers did offer the thinclads a warm climate and the facilities of Rice University.

At the end of the sun-filled week, the Harvard men competed in a nonscoring dual meet against Rice, and the women ran in the Bayou Classic against squads from the South-western Conference.

And then they returned to Cambridge--windy, slushy Cambridge, where muscles pull and tendons strain with the greatest of ease.

April has the reputation for being cruel, so despite looking forward to the comforts of lightening-fast McCurdy Track, Coach Haggerty is worried. "We go back and forth between the indoor and outdoor tracks depending on the weather. It's difficult to train consistently," he said.

The outdoor season opens for both squads at home on April 5 in a dual meet against Northeastern, but sights are already being set on the Heptagonal championships at Navy, May 10 and 11.

"If we can come together as a team, we can place higher in the Heps than we did in the indoor season," men's Co-Captain Boyd predicts.

But optimism fades to concern with mention of the team's achille's heel: injuries.

"Injuries could hurt us. Towards the end of the indoor season, though, improved J Vers started to come on," Boyd added. "If they can gain confidence and believe they can compete on the varsity level, we'll have a good chance to beat some of the teams that beat us in the winter."

If Irish eyes are smiling, these key performers will make it to Navy with their health intact.

Sheehan, a legitimate sub-four-minute miler, earned All-America honors with a second place finish in the mile at the NCAA championships earlier this month. He was MVP of 1985 Indoor Heps, and had two first-place and one second-place finish in the '86 Indoors.

Boyd (who tips the scales at 205 pounds) is "pound for pound the best high jumper in the country," Haggerty says. In 1985, Boyd placed first at Indoors and second at Outdoors in the high jump.

He won the '86 Indoors by jumping over seven feet, but needs to improve his 7-ft., 1-in. personal record by two inches in order to qualify for the NCAA championship.

Kent, an All-Ivy cross country runner, is presently hobbled by a leg injury. If healthy, though, he should do very well in the 800, 1500 and 3000.

For the women, Stricker holds school records in the 1500 (4:29.9, as well as six of Harvard's top 10 all-time best 1500s) and the 3000 (8:58.33). In 1982-'83, she was an All-American in both cross country and track.

Stricker placed sixth in the 1986 NCAA cross country championships and won the 5000 at the '86 Indoor Heps despite a calf injury.

Sugrue, holder of the school record in the high jump, can compete in the 55-meter hurdles, triple jump, and pentathalon. "We decide meet to meet what she'll run," says Haggerty.

Co-Captain Theresa Moore, who runs the 100 and 4x100 relay, leads a strong corp of sprinters.

Another couple of key performers for the women will be Yamilee Bermingham--the other co-captain, who holds the school record for the indoor 400--and Mary Lawler, who is consistently strong in the 20-lb. weight and shot put.