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Republished with permission granted by The Washington Newspaper Publishing Co. LLC d/b/a MediaDC. Back to Montgomery Journal articles
Kris Herdt runs past the best at Penn Relays
Special to the Journal
PHILADELPHIA
Photo caption: Journal Photo by Bill Kamenjar. Whitman's Kris Herdt raises his arms in triumph as he crosses the finish line at the Penn Relays. The rest of the field barely stayed in the race.
For about three laps of Franklin Field's 400m track it looked like the high school boys 3000m championship at the Penn Relays might actually be a race.
That's also about as long as the delusion lasted. Kris Herdt of Whitman skipped past four runners down the backstretch of the fourth lap of the 7 1/2-lap race, opening a 20-yard lead in the process. Herdt proceeded to add yardage on each successive lap until by the tape, he was sporting 11 seconds, or almost 100 yards, over the runner-up. The Whitman senior stopped the official clock at 8:20.8. Merrick Jones of Palmyra South Side New York finished 8:31.4.
"I wanted to come up here to see what I could do," Herdt said afterwards. "I thought I'd be put to the test here, there are a couple of different guys that weren't at Eastern States."
Lack of any competition probably cost Herdt the four-year old meet record. Dwight Stephens of T.C. Williams ran a 8:19.4 in 1980.
Following his tried-and-true pattern of going out comfortably, Herdt fell to the back of the 29-man field at the gun and stayed there through the initial 300 yards. Moving steadily around the second turn of the race, Herdt ate up competitors until he was positioned in fourth. He stayed there through a 4:28 mile then took off.
"I meant to go out faster than I usually do, but the others just went out too fast," Herdt said. "A 4:28 is good, I'm pleased. I must've come back faster. I really felt confident today. I probably could've pushed a little faster."
Bringing home his second half of the two-mile race swifter than his first half is what Herdt's coach Tom Narwocki claims is the weak point of his race.
"That's not the way to run that race," Nawrocki had said earlier last week.
But judging from Herdt's margin of victory and the Wisconsin runners surrounding him after his victory (Wisconsin is one of three universities Herdt is contemplating attending), no other tactics were necessary. By the summer, however, when Herdt is expected to be competing in the prestigious Golden West competition, to which only the nation's elite are extended invitations, the East Coast's top distance runner may have to consider employing more speed in the beginning of his race.
Page B2 Headline: Krist Herdt easily wins 3000m at Penn
That's what the next few weeks are for.
I haven't accomplished what I want to yet," Herdt said. "Golden West is June 9, the state is Memorial Day and until then I'm going to be increasing my speed. Last week I ran 102 miles, just to see if I could do it, now I'm going to drop the distance and go for speed. I'll keep running in the morning but increase the speedwork in the afternoons up to three good days to prepare for the mile. I might not even run the two mile in the state, there's not enough time between the two events. If I do a good time in the mile, I'll leave, we don't have a chance at the team championship, so it wouldn't be worth it. My goal now in the mile is Joe Daniels."
Running the high school 1500m championship race right before Herdt lined up for the 3000m, Suitland's Joe Daniels ran a 3:54.6 for second place. Suitland is a AA school and the two competitors will be facing each other Memorial Day weekend. In their only other meeting, Herdt bettered Daniels by a second in the indoor state 1600m, 4:20.5-4:21.5.
Thursday, the day before Herdt had the stadium's fans collectively staring in open-mouthed wonder, Kennedy's Beth Jacobson set the stage for the county's level of performance at Penn that weekend. The Kennedy junior improved her finish in the high school girl's 3000m championship over last year, with a fifth place 10:14.9. Unlike Herdt, Jacobson shot to the front of the pack at the gun, leading them through a 75-second quarter-mile. Settling down to 80-second repetitions, Jacobson ran in fifth through the remaining laps, capturing the final medal position.
Until he arrived at Franklin Field Friday, Magruder's Andrew Bevan didn't even know if he had been accepted to compete in the pole vault event. The Relays' sports information service didn't even know he existed. By the end of the high school vaulting event, to which only 22 competitors are accepted. Bevan made sure at least 18 of his peers knew who he was.
Bevan, the 5-11, 145-pound senior who was the upstart victor at the Maryland class B/C indoor track championships, again used his anonymity to his advantage. In his first-ever excursion to the University of Pennsylvania in this last weekend of April, Bevan soared over 14-0 on his third attempt for the fourth place medal. Dan Bertolami of Woodbridge High School, New Jersey won the event at 15-0. To add insult to injury to those he bettered, Bevan was using a pole he'd never used before in competition.
"Before the indoor state meet I was trying to get on a 15-foot pole and after it I got a lighter 15-foot pole, a 15-45 (supports the weight of a 145 pound man) that worked better, but I still didn't have it down at Penn," Bevan said. At the state meet the end of February, Bevan made 13-9 on a 14-55 pole. "I was counting on my adrenalin getting me over and it did. But I still didn't have my timing down. I'm happy."
Competing in a vastly different atmosphere than the Baltimore Armory last February when he made every vault on his first attempt, Bevan missed his first two tries at 13-6, the opening height at Penn.
"I took some practice vaults there and I felt I could make the starting height," Bevan said. "I missed the first two times and the last one I lowered my hand hold and got over pretty easy."
Making 14-0 was equally a struggle. Bevan again failed on his first two runs, forcing another adjustment.
"Those two times at 14-0 I usually fell on it, I didn't have the penetration," Bevan said. "That third time I had it by four or five inches, I had a better run, I adjusted my steps a little."
With the bar moved six inches higher, Bevan's inexperience with his new pole was evident.
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