It wasn't quite a worst-to-first turnaround, but it almost was worst-to-second.

After finishing dead last at the Indoor Heptagonal Championships one year ago, the Harvard men's track team bounced back in a huge way at this year's title meet, held this past weekend at the Gordon Track Center.

Riding a phenomal showing on the second day of competition, the Crimson finished fourth out of the nine participating teams, nearly quadrupling its point total from a year ago.

After earning just two fifth-place finishes on Saturday, Harvard earned points in nine of yesterday's 15 events, including nine top-three finishes.

"The team was mostly very excited," said senior Arthur Fergusson, who placed in both the high jump and triple jump . "We've been working hard all year and it showed. We wanted to get back to form after last year's trauma and show we could compete with anybody."

For the record, Princeton won the competition by 34 points to claim its fourth consecutive Heps title. But the Crimson's fourth-place showing was more than simply an improvement over last year's dismal performance. It was reason for pride.

"It's all about heart," co-captain John Kraay said during the competition yesterday. "We've been giving them hell today. I'm as happy as hell."

And as impressive as Harvard's performance was, it could have been even better. The Crimson would have placed second overall if not for a controversial call that invalidated senior Ed Baker's second-place finish in the 3,000-meter run on Saturday.