Thinclads Demolish Yale, Princeton

The Harvard track team expected to have some trouble this Saturday, but it ran into little opposition as it smashed Princeton and Yale at the Bubble to take the Big Three Championships for the third year in a row.

The final score was Harvard 92 1/2, Princeton 30, and Yale 25 1/2.

"The running kind of flabbergasted me," coach Bill McCurdy said after the meet. "We didn't know how to rate Princeton and Yale. Some teams you know before you start, but here we couldn't be too sure."

The biggest upset of the day came when two Crimson runners upset a teammate and a top-rated Tiger. In the mile, Jim Hughes and Mark Connolly ran ahead all the way to take first and second place respectively. Hughes was timed at 4:13.4. Connolly at 4:14.1, ahead of Princeton's Chris Elliot, who finished third at 4:15.1. Harvard's John Quirk took fourth place.

"The mile captured all the attention and looked really great," McCurdy said. "Nobody expected them to run ahead of Elliott, but they did."

In his last outing against Pennsylvania and Columbia, Elliott had run his best mile ever in 4:09.3.

The two mile was another high point as the Crimson swept all four places with the same combination which promised so much during the Cross Country season.

Ric Rojas--who has been competing with Mike Koerner all season for the number one spot on the Harvard long distance squad--edged Koerner yesterday in the two mile 9:01.7-9:01.8. Fred Linsk, who has shown promise all year, came into his own Saturday by placing third, inches behind Koerner. He was also timed at 9:01.8.

It's usually difficult to pick out stars in a meet like Saturday's--given the number of Crimson victors--but Bob Clayton was a clear standout. In come-from-behind wins, Clayton took the 600 and the 1000 yard runs. In the 600, Clayton finished in 1:11.6 over Princeton's Jim Schnure, who was timed at 1:12.3. In the 1000, he eked out a victory at the line over Yale's Bill Lovelace. Both were timed at 2:13.4.

Finally, in the two mile relay, Clayton ran the anchor leg, and again had to play catch-up--which he did as Harvard won in 7:55.3, more than two seconds ahead of Yale.

Yale apparently took the defeat particularly hard. Sophomore Terry Callery reported that after the meet, one of his teammates put his foot through a door.