Gridders Elect St. Pierre '73 Captain; Safetyman Voted to Succeed DeMars

Dave St. Pierre yesterday became Harvard's 100th football captain. Coach Joe Restic's announcement of the junior safetyman's selection as successor to Ted DeMars came at a Harvard Varsity Club press luncheon held at the Varsity Club.

St. Pierre, who was not even considered a likely starter at the start of the season, took over at safety after two games, and ended up as the Crimson's fourth leading tackler. He ended the season with 45 tackles and 7 assists, for a total of 52. Sandy Tennant led Harvard with 72 tackles.

St. Pierre also came up with four interceptions-including two in the season's finale against Yale-recovered a fumble that set up a touchdown in the B.U. game, and broke up five passes during the season.

"This really caught me by surprise," St. Pierre said yesterday. "It was a real shock. But if the team had enough confidence in me to elect me, I'm confident that I can do the job."

St. Pierre doesn't consider himself to be a vocal type who will do a lot of cheer leading to psyche a team up. "I'm definitely not a rah-rah type, although a little of that is good for a team," he said. "Example is the best way to be a captain."

Restic concurs with St. Pierre's self evaluation. "Dave will do it for you on the field," the Harvard coach said yesterday. "He'll be a real leader for us that way. This was a very, very sound choice."

St. Pierre, who grew up in Salem and attended St. John's School, has an extensive athletic background. He lettered in three sports in high school, and captained the football and baseball teams at St. John's, even though he didn't take up football until his junior year.

In high school, St. Pierre won most acclaim as a quarterback, where he was an all-conference selection his senior year and was chosen to play in the Harry Agganis All-Star game.

St. Pierre was also a three year varsity baseball player for St. John's and last year he saw some action for the Harvard varsity. He will probably start for Loyal Park this year.

St. Pierre is the second defensive back in three years to be named captain, and the third straight Harvard captain to hail from New England.

St. Pierre's selection is the result of a secret ballot vote of members of the varsity.