Trackmen swallowed by Tigers

The Princeton men's indoor track team received strong performances from Holland Gary and Jim Colling as it defeated Penn State and Penn Saturday in New Jersey.

Gary and Colling were both double winners at the meet. Gary captured victories in the 55-meter dash and 55-meter hurdles, while Colling took the mile and the 1000-meter run with times of 4 minutes 10 seconds and 2:29, respectively.

Princeton coach Mike Brady said the victory was a big one for the Tigers.

"It meant a lot to beat two great teams like Penn and Penn State," Brady said. "(Penn State coach) Harry Groves is one of the best coaches the U.S., and he always has a strong team. To beat a team of Penn State's caliber is very gratifying."

Penn State's Neal McNutt won the 35-pound weight throw for the third consecutive week with a toss of 60 feet 3 inches. Other victorious Nittany Lions were Dave Matson and Joe Loner, who took first in the shot put and 800-meter run, respectively.

The Lions also received an impressive effort from Sean Vego. Vego was a busy man, taking second in the high jump, third in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump. Vego's leap of 23 feet, 5 inches was a personal record.

Groves said his team put forth a good effort but added Princeton's depth was too much to overcome.

"We scored well in all the events. There was not a weak event in this meet," Groves said. "Princeton is a very viable team. They had a lot of depth and it showed. We did a lot of battling but just not enough to win the meet."

Groves said the team is headed in the right direction but added the squad needs more depth if it is to make some noise at the Big Ten championships in three weeks.

Before going to Big Tens, Penn State will host the President's Invitational Saturday. Groves said the Invitational will be a tune-up meet for the Lions and will give a lot of smaller teams a chance to compete.

Friday, McNutt, Che Arosemena and the 4x800 relay team will travel to Madison Square Garden to compete in the Milrose Games, what Groves calls the "granddaddy of all track events."