Heps: It's A Track Numbers Game

For the Harvard men's and women's indoor track teams, last weekend's Indoor Heptagonal Championships were a time to gape.

While the women's team marveled at freshman jumper Dora Gyorffy's masterpieces, though, the men's team stared in bewilderment after suffering several close calls.

Spearheaded by Gyorffy's dazzling performances in the triple jump and high jump, the women's team placed fifth out of eight teams at the Heps, which were held at Princeton.

Gyorffy, who has already set the Harvard school records in the high jump and triple jump, established a Heps record and personal best in the high jump with a 1.91-meter, first-place finish. Gyorffy's winning time of 12.27 meters in the triple jump was almost two feet longer than that of her closest competitor.

"I was really nervous before the high jump", Gyorffy said. "I couldn't really warm up because so many people were already warming up."

Gyorffy had to endure both the competition itself, which lasted over two and a half hours, and injuries to both of her ankles. The injury to her right ankle had hampered Gyorffy's performance in the triple jump for over a month.

"I didn't start that great in the triple jump," Gyorffy said. "But I put myself together."

Overall, the women's team collected 64 points. Princeton won the women's Heps with 112 points.

Next weekend, Gyorffy will travel to Indianapolis, where she will represent the Crimson in the NC2A Championships.

Near Misses for Men

The men's team finished a frustrating seventh out of nine teams at the Heps, which were won by Princeton.

"We had a lot of close calls," senior Kevin Johnson said.

One such call came in the four-by-400, when freshman Rich Powell was tripped. Harvard, which had held the lead up to the second leg, fell to a fifth-place finish.

Sophomore Mike Harte lost the 55-meter hurdles by two-hundredths of a second, placing third after a photo finish.

Junior captain Joe Ciollo, who will continue his season at the IC4As in Indianapolis this weekend, nearly won the 500-meter dash on Sunday. Ciollo had led for most of the race, but Penn's Robin Martin, last year's winner, nipped him at the finish line by two-tenths of a second.

Freshman Chuck Nwokocha, who will also compete in the IC4As along with junior Scott Muoio, faced another close race. Nwokocha's time in the 55-meter dash was just three-hundredths of a second behind winner Shawn Fernandes of Penn.

"It was pretty close," Nwokocha said. "My start wasn't as good as I had anticipated. After the first 10 meters, it was a pretty good race from then on.

"The competition was pretty good. There were a couple of people you can't fall asleep on."