1997 Ivy League rushing leader Menick leads the Crimson

He's not the fastest or the biggest player in his position. Nevertheless, Harvard running back Chris Menick almost always seems to get his three to five yards per carry. One would think there is some secret formula to his consistency. Then again, maybe not. "It's hard to say how I do it," Menick said. "I just try to get as many yards as I can and take what the defense gives you. I never try to make the big run, and I'm not the fastest guy in the world either." Still a junior, Menick is on pace to break the two-year old Harvard career rushing record. Menick currently stands at 2,285 yards, a mere 789 away from the mark. In his game appearances, Menick has become a marked man, especially after the single-season school record 1,267 yards he tallied last year. "The games where our running game has not done well, we've lost most of the time, except for our game at Princeton," Menick said. "At the beginning of the season last year, teams were not keying on me as much. But this year, defenses are definitely are keying on me a lot more." One result of the defenses' focus on Menick is a tailback who has not dominated compared to a season ago. During this current 1998 campaign, Menick has tallied 100-plus yards in only four of eight contests. This lowered output is due in part to a weaker offensive line, and also due in part to injury. This season did not get off to a good start when Menick suffered a sprained ankle and broken thumb, sidelining him for the Crimson's loss in week two at Colgate. Another of Menick's off weeks came last Saturday in Harvard's home loss versus Brown. Menick only managed 38 yards on 13 carries against a Bears defense which had allowed 259 yards to Penn's Jim Finn. Which Chris Menick shows up at Franklin Field on Saturday -- the durable runner of a year ago or the injury-slowed back of this year -- will go a long way in determining the result of the game. One of the aspects of the 'durable' Menick is a running game that can seem mystifying in the slow-motion-like development of his runs. "He is a very patient runner. He will wait for his blocks to unfold, and will wait to see where the seam [running lane] shows up," Penn linebacker Jim Hisgen said. "He'll make his cut, and then run off his block." Menick's delay, however, should not be misconstrued as one where he randomly wanders from hole to hole. "A lot of runners will dance around the backfield, and that's when they get into trouble," Penn linebacker Darren MacDonald said. "Menick's more of a north-south runner. "He picks a seam, and because of his size, he'll slip through a lot of times when other backs wouldn't. Once he does find his hole, he scoots in there." Patience in his reads of what the defense has made available is not something Menick discovered at Harvard, or as a high school star in the Westchester County suburbs of the New York metro area. "I would watch guys on TV break long runs and be fascinated by runners like Barry Sanders," Menick said. "My dad used to always tell me to never get too caught up with all that because those runs aren't things that you can make happen. Those runs just come." Menick's chances on the ground, though, may be few and far between this weekend against one of the best rushing defenses in the Ivy League. Although it is hard to predict how much open space Menick will have, there is little doubt that much of the defense's attention will be on the one player who holds the key to Harvard's offensive success. "Menick's a versatile back," MacDonald said."There's not one particular play on which he can be stopped. On every play, he's dangerous."