M. X-Country Finished 2nd

The Harvard men's cross country team overcame potential disaster on Friday at the Greater Boston Invitational when it pulled out a second place finish despite losing three of its top runners to injury or illness.

Boston University emerged on top at the meet with a score of 21, followed by Harvard (55), Brandeis (69) and Northeastern (82).

"BU was much stronger than we expected, but it was a pretty good effort for us," said Captain Robert Failla. "The times for the top guys were comparable to the best times recorded by other Ivy League schools. We look good for the Heps meet at the end of the month."

Senior William Bland led Harvard with a fifth place overall finish, recording a time of 25:06.

Harvard's top five times came from freshman Brian Walsh (ninth, 25:34), junior Douglas Lanzo (12th, 26:03), junior Michael Belbeck (13th, 26:07) and sophomore Bryan Henry (16th, 26:14).