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Republished with permission granted by The Washington Newspaper Publishing Co. LLC d/b/a MediaDC. Back to Montgomery Journal articles
Whitman girls win county meet despite violation
By PAT DALTON
Journal staff writer
That the Whitman girls won the Montgomery County Indoor Track Meet last night at Towson State University came as no surprise. How they went about capturing the title was shocking.
When the team scores were tallied, the Vikings had run away from the field. Then meet officials realized Anna Batatt had entered five events, one more than rules allow. But even after deducting the 26 points Batatt earned for the Vikings, they had enough left to outdistance second-place Walter Johnson 61-38.
On the boys side, Springbrook used its balanced lineup to cruise past the field, garnering 68 points. Runner-up Richard Montgomery had 52.
The Whitman controversy didn't overshadow several outstanding performances.
Churchill distance runner Tina Brown shattered two records on the girls side and B-CC distance runner Matt Ellis broke one for the boys. Seneca Valley's Kisha Cole won three events to help the Screaming Eagles to a fifth-place finish.
Brown axed five seconds off the 800-meter record and almost 15 seconds off the 1,600-meter record. Her time of 2:27.1 broke the record of Kennedy's Kim Many, who ran a 2:32.8 in 1989 in the 800. In the 1600, her 5:35.1 destroyed the 5:49.6 turned in last year by Springbrook's Ayana McIntosh.
Brown said after the Churchill 3,200-meter relay team, which she was part of, beat highly touted Whitman, she knew anything was possible.
"I was so happy. We beat Whitman in the 3,200-relay and I knew anything could happen," she said, adding that she doesn't have a set strategy going into her races. "My coach tells me what to do, but usually I just go out and run as hard as I can."
Cole was the meet's only triple-winner. She won the 55-meter dash and the 300- and 500-meter runs. The win the 500-meter run took more than Cole expected.
"I wanted to take it easy in the 500 because I had the 55-meter dash afterwards," she said. "But I didn't want her [Watkins Mills' Melissa Brennan] to get away from me. [Being on the] cross country [team] made me stronger at the end of races. It makes me able to run the 55, the 300, the 500 and the relays."
For Ellis, meet records are nothing new, but after a disappointing cross country season, no one knew what to expect from the B-CC senior. Ellis, expected to challenge for a state cross country title, ran poorly most of the season and wasn't competitive in the late-season meets. But he started his comeback last night by breaking his own meet record in the 1,600-meter run.
Ellis turned in a 4:28.9, almost 14 seconds better than his 4:41.3 last year. He said he took a month off after the cross country season, and it paid off.
"I didn't have any real strategy going into the race. I just tried to run steady and avoid what happened to me in the cross country season," he said. "I'm also trying to avoid running in too many events."
The Springbrook boys team captured only two wins, but their depth showed as the Blue Devils scored points in eight of the meet's 12 events.
Sam Brown won the 300-meter dash in 37.3 and Kevin Carter won the 3,200-meter run in an event where times were not recorded because the runners ran one lap too few.
"Just about everybody on my team ran a personal best. That includes Sam Brown in the 300 meters, Phil Marshall in the 55-meter hurdles and Kevin Carter in the 3,200 meters," Springbrook Coach Rick Miller said.
The controversy over Whitman arose when meet officials realized Batatt had been entered in five events. She scratched from two, but county rules coaches may not enter athletes in more than four events, regardless of whether they scratch from some events, meet director Ron McGaw said.
McGaw said Batatt ran in the 3,200-meter run, the 800-meter run and the 1,600-meter relay. She also was entered in the 300- and 500-meter runs but scratched.
Whitman Coach Tracy Gibson was unavailable for comment last night.
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