Landon Runners, N'wood Sisters Win Relay Titles

By Katy Williams
Special to the Journal


Journal Photo by Monica Mintz: John Schelp (above) and Bo Parker of Landon teamed to win the Bears' first place honors in the annual Woodward Relays cross country meet last Friday in the rain.

Bo Parker turned 17 last Friday. He learned that birthdays often go unnoticed, even if you pull a come-from-behind, at-the-wire finish in the Woodward Relays, the county's cross country season opener in interval-workout style.

Parker, the National Merit Scholarship semifinalist from Landon, passed Seneca Valley's Tom Cuff in the final 50 yards of the six-mile loop. That sent Parker's teammate John Schelp to congratulate him in the chute.

"Happy Birthday, fellah. This is your birthday present!" Schelp greeted Parker. Then Schelp turned the attention to himself.

Schelp, resting on the ground, jumped over the chute's ropes when he saw Parker finish. His leg knotted in a cramp, causing Landon coach Chris Elliot and the Landon team to stretch out his calf muscle.

"It was foolish for me to jump so high when I saw Bo come in," Schelp said. "No one congratulated Bo."

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Bo Parker and John Schelp won the fifth Woodward Relays last Friday, the innovative race in which six pairs of runners from 20 schools alternate miles until six miles are completed.

Team scorers are determined by the first three finishes by a school's front-running pairs. Girls looped for four miles, and included just the first two finishes in team scoring.

"To score well, and be victorious at the Woodward Relays, all six pairs have to depend on each other to get ahead in the race," said Andy White, whose Churchill boys won for their fourth straight year. "The Woodward Relays build team tightness in a race situation."

Seniors Tom Hall and Dave Witnah were the top-finishing team for the Bulldogs at third. Junior Jerry Gerstein and sophomore Kenny Short teamed for fifth, and seniors Chuck Cappellary and Junior McDonald rounded out Churchill's scoring at seventh.

Churchill totalled 15 points over Seneca Valley's 33, Northwood's 35, and Blair's 53. Seneca was led by Tom Cuff's mile splits of 5:00, 4:56 and 4:51.

Cuff and Luke Rowe maintained their lead through most of the race, although staying within striking distance of Churchill's Whitnah and Hall until the final mile. Parker, however, came from 18th position after the first mile, to within 50 yards of then-race leader Cuff.

"Bo really had an exciting finish," Schelp said. "I was afraid that he would slip and lose what he had gained."

Landon coach Chris Elliot admitted to some fears, too.

"I guess I'm always nervous during a race. I can't relax," the former Princeton University cross country team captain said. "John had the easier part of catching the guys in front, and Bo had to work to keep that lead. It was pretty exciting."

Northwood continued its hold on the girls' team title, with its one-two punch that gave the Indians only three points and the trophy for the third year in a row.

A change in who ran with who and the formidable sister combination of race-winners Susan (a sophomore) and Mary (a junior) Kinnecome formed the Northwood strategy.

The Kinnecomes finished not far in front of teammates Emily van Deventer and Donna Messersmith, Northwood's third and fourth runners.

"I had the girls paired one-and-three (Susan running with Emily) and two-and four (Mary with Donna)" coach Dan Reeks explained. "Then Emily said, 'well, what do you want us to do? Win or kick?'

"So I said all right to Emily's advice and we went to win," Reeks said. "It was a matter of team pride for the girls."

"I guess we showed we were stronger than we thought we would be," said Mary, alluding to the graduation of standouts Ruth Drengwitz and Mary Walsh. "We felt the pressure to win not from Mr. Reeks, but from ourselves."

Mary Kinnecome led off the race of 52 pairs, and established herself in first as she rounded the driving range a quarter mile from the starting line. Her mile splits of 6:00 and 6:15, and Susan's mile splits of 6:10 and 6:05 gave the duo a winning time of 24:30.

Seneca Valley placed second in girls' competition with eight points on finishes by sophomores Hannah Rowe and Terry Brown (third), and seniors Mary Beth Bresch and Laura Thompson (fifth).

Churchill, third with 20 points, was paced by ninth-placing Theresa DeGuzman and Eve Abrams and 11th-finishing Karen Chapman and sophomore Kim Kokulis.

Peary's sophomore duo of Marian Thibeau and Mary Beth Golsen (seventh) led the Huskies to a fourth-place team finish (22 points), and Gaithersburg, fifth with 23, earned points from sophomore (and novice meet champion) Mary Cassidy and senior Hilary Camp, fourth overall.


Journal Photo by Monica Mintz: Sisters Mary and Susan Kinnecome of Northwood won the girls best-pair title in last Friday's Woodward Relays cross country meet.