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Republished with permission granted by The Washington Newspaper Publishing Co. LLC d/b/a MediaDC. Back to Montgomery Journal articles
WJ girls 'stick' it to competition
Gaithersburg rides Frazier, Colbert to boys title
[Page B2] Bodine wins 2 despite bad back
Walter Johnson's 800-meter relay team grabbed Lindsay Tingley, right, from the stands and ran to victory in the Montgomery County Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday in Hagerstown.
By Vincent Pulupa
Journal Staff Writer
HAGERSTOWN - Lindsay Tinkley thought her trip here for the Montgomery County indoor Track and Field Championships had been a failure.
She had gone to represent Walter Johnson High in the 55-meter dash and hadn't even qualified for the finals. But that was before last call rolled around for the 800-relay.
That's when the wildcats realized they were a runner short. Freshman Lauren Shaw, who was supposed to run the second leg, missed the meet with illness. Desperate and with just minutes to go before the event was to be run, the Wildcats turned to Tingley. And she came through.
Tingley, a sophomore, had fewer than five minutes to practice, but she made the most of it, and so did her teammates.
Sophomore Julie Brant ran the lead leg, freshman Leigh Rivlin took the baton from Tingley and senior Debbie Fromstein ran the anchor leg as Walter Johnson won the event in 1:53.2. Richard Montgomery finished second in 1:55 and Northwest took third in 1:55.3.
"It was really hectic," Tingley said. "They [Brandt, Rivlin and Fromstein] grabbed me at the final call. I was in the bleachers when the final call was made, and I didn't really want to run so I was a little surprised."
Fortunately for the Wildcats, they had wrapped up the team title before the 800-relay, thanks to two individual victories by Jenny Bodine and a victory in the 3200-relay. Walter Johnson finished with 76.5 points.
Paint Branch and Watkins Mill tied for second with 32 points.
Gaithersburg won the boys title and Watkins Mill finished second, but meet officials had not calculated team points at press time.
To make things worse for the Wildcats in the 800 relay, they had only five minutes to practice before the event started, and did so in a warm-up area roughly five feet in length. This made it nearly impossible to practice handoffs and the approach steps that make the difference between success and failure on relays.
"We usually have to figure out how many steps to give the person," Tingley said. "And with Leigh (Rivlin) as our third leg, she didn't really know how many steps to give me, so she had to judge it with her eye."
In outdoor track, runners use a blind handoff - runners pass the baton without looking back. In indoor track, however, runners use the word 'stick' to communicate in handoffs. For example, when the second leg runner (Tingley) approaches the third leg runner (Rivlin), Rivlin is supposed to take off early. If in three to five steps Rivlin has yet to receive the baton, Tingley is supposed to yell 'stick' and Rivlin should turn around and look for the baton.
On Friday, Tingley did not know how to call 'stick' since she was a first-year runner with little relay experience. So Rivlin compensated by looking back the entire time. Although the pass was shaky, Rivlin got out and extended the Wildcats' lead before she passed off to Fromstein.
"We almost dropped the baton," Rivlin said. "I had the very edge, and I was like, 'There's no way I'm letting this drop.' But don't tell coach, he doesn't know that."
Bodine assured the Wildcats would have no trouble winning the team title. Bodine, a senior who finished second in the state in the 3A cross country meet, won the 500 and 800 despite a strained back suffered shoveling snow last week.
The back injury forced coach Tom Rogers to move Bodine out of the 1,600 and into the 500, which opened the door for fellow senior Kim Milans to win the 1,600 in 5:27.5. She outdueled the Quince Orchard duo of Karen Pulliam (5:31.5) and Lindsay Schneider (5:41.2).
Meanwhile, Bodine won the 500 in 1:22.21, edging Paint Branch's Jamie Smith (1:22.94) and Blair's Alyssa Walker (1:23.09). Bodine, the defending state champ in the 800, wanted to break the county record of 2:23.8 set last year by RM's Cecily Garber. But although Bodine won the event, the back injury limited her to a 2:25.3 in a race she finished with a whince on her face.
"Her back was just too tight," Rogers said. "It's too bad that happened because of the snow. She really hoped to break that record here."
Gaithersburg's Megan Kirby finished second in 2:27.6 and Milans came in third in 2:29.2.
Gaithersburg's boys rolled behind their senior co-captains - Ron Frazier and Jay Colbert.
Frazier won the 55-hurdles in 7.5 seconds, just ahead of Northwest's Anwar Phillips and Trojans' Prince Anderson, who tied for second in 7.7, and Colbert edged Frazier to win the 55-dash in 6.3.
Both said conditioning has become a concern because of inactivity forced on them by the snow. Both plan to work extra hard to prepare for the regional meet Feb. 9 in Baltimore.
"We're kind of tired," Frazier said. "The last couple of days we had school, so we practiced in our lower gym. We did a lot of speed stuff but before that, I just stayed in my house while it snowed."
Between events, Colbert and Frazier occupied themselves with friendly trash talk, much directed against their rivals from Watkins Mill and Northwest.
But Colbert was quick to point out the trash talk is 'friendly' and not personal.
"That's what makes sports so much fun," Colbert said. "We never get too bigheaded or cocky, but we do take success in stride. We take it and put it in our backbone and go out each week and try harder."
"So," he said, motioning toward athletes from Watkins Mill and Northwest, "we're coming, and we're going to get you," he said. "You can quote me on that."
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