Harriers Smash Hapless Brown, 15-48

In a race that was over shortly after it began, the Harvard cross country team shut out a hapless Brown University squad in Providence yesterday, 15-48.

Ric Rojas ran his usual strong race and took first place on the five-mile-long Butler Grounds course in 25-29.6. He beat Harvard's Marsh Jones, the number two man, by more than 30 seconds.

Jones' strong performance is his second in a row and solidifies his position at the top of the Harvard ladder.

In a surprising performance freshman Bill Durrette finished third. He was moved up from the freshman squad for the Penn meet, and given his finish yesterday, be should add depth to the imposing Harvard team.

Durrette was clocked at 26:07.

Tying for fourth place were Andy Campbell and Jimmy Keefe, in 26:13. Next was Brown's first man, freshman Brian Thomas, who came in six seconds behind Campbell and Keefe.

The Brown course has three loops with a little quarter mile hitch at the end. Jones, Durrette. Campbell and Keefe for Harvard and Thomas for Brown were the early leaders in the race for the first loop and a half, with Rojas running behind. "I was running kind of slow to loosen up," he said. "We had a rough week of practice."

At the middle of the second loop, he took off, and by the end of the loop, he was 20 seconds ahead of everybody else. Durrette was in second. Jones in third.

During the third loop, Jones pulled ahead to stay, while Rojas lengthened his lead.

Harvard also placed well in the last half of the top ten, taking eight of the first nine spots overall. Finishing seventh in his first varsity race was freshman Carl Tsigdennis, in 26:23. Harvard's Jimmy Hughes finished eighth in 26:35, while Crimson runner George Farrelly was ninth at 26:53.

Bruins in tenth

The Bruins managed to grab tenth place, with John Davey running the course in 27:05.

Harvard captain John Quirk, who is suffering from a cold, was sidelined for the contest.

The Crimson win was certainly not unexpected, but the strong performances of Jones and newcomers Durrette and Tsigdennis bode well for the harriers next big test against Cornell a week from today.