Whitman Surprises at Magruder Invitational

By LYN PUSEY
Journal Staff

"We knew about [Richard] Brody - but where did the rest of those guys come from?" asked an amazed Larry Layman, track coach at Crossland, after Whitman's track team pulled what were, to some, surprises at Saturday's Magruder Invitational.

The Vikings placed sixth overall, with some topflight competition ahead of them, and won the AA division, beating out pre-meet favorite Crossland.

But the outcome of the meet, in which 54 schools participated, didn't surprise Whitman Coach Sam DeBone at all.

"We are a big meet team," he said, "with a very good track team and a few field guys to complement it. The only surprise in the meet was [Chris] Kelley in the 100, because that is his weakest event." Kelley won the 100 with a 9.9 in the final heat and also took second in the 220.

"OTHER THAN THAT," added DeBone, "we expected [Packy] Jennings and Brody to do well. I'm surprised that we won the AA meet, but I am not surprised at how well they did."

Brody, in his expected performance, took a strong second in the invitational mile with a 4:19.1 to George Watts' 4:18.4. Watts, of Virginia's Edison High, went on to win the two-mile, where he is the nation's top-ranked runner, shattering the record of 9:27.8 with a 9:09.4.

Brody also placed fifth in the 880, clocking a 1:58.3.

Other winners for Whitman were Jennings, third in the 330 intermediate hurdles, Bob Marney, fifth in the two-mile, and John Mason, sixth in the pole vault.

JENNINGS' 39.4 in the 330 broke the meet record that was set a year ago when the event was initiated. He is currently "right where we want him to be," according to DeBone, in preparation for the county and state meets.

The 9.9 that Kelly clocked in winning the 100 was his second fastest time at that distance. His fastest was the 9.8 that he ran in the semi-final heat. He had earlier run a 9.8 in a practice but the effort in real competition proved that he was for real in his "weakest event."

"He's never really been pushed," said DeBone, "and he just blew past the field." And the coach is sure that Kelley would have won the 220 as well had he not run the 440 in between the 100 and 220.

Marney's 9:39.5 in the unseeded section of the two-mile took the field and the time bettered the final two in the seeded heat with only Watts, John Barnes of Hayfield, Ed Boggess of Kennedy and Joe Jenkins of Surratsville, all highly-touted runners, doing better. Marney's time was his best ever, though DeBone sees in him the potential of a 9:30 or possibly a 9:20.

WHITMAN ALSO BOASTS a solid mile relay team of John Rigau, Mfon Mfon, Jennings and Kelley that has run a 4:29 this season. But the group was pulled at Magruder because Kelley was exhausted after his three events. But in dual meets this season, the group hasn't lost.

DeBone, backed by the opinions of other coaches in the county, sees Whitman as a definite contender for the county title, because, while not overly deep, the Vikings can win a title in a large field on the strength of their runners.

Through three dual meets this spring, Whitman has lost all three, though winning all three through the track events and averaging ten first places per meet.

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Eight records were set in this year's Magruder Invitational, with John Philbin of Peary and Kevin Amigh of Gaithersburg breaking the meet marks in the pole vault and regular mile, respectively.

PHILBIN CLEARED THE bar at 13-7, to top the 13-6 by Churchill's Scott O'Connell that had stood since 1971. Amigh ran a 4:23.5, his best performance ever, to break the mark of 4:24.2 run by Kenwood's Dave Patrick in 1965.

Amigh's time left only two meet records that have now stood for ten years - the shot put of 63-6 by Springbrook's Tom Brosius and the medley relay team from Good Counsel, running a 3:26.5. No one came close to breaking them.

Brosius, the only one to hold two meet records, still owns the discus mark, though Earl Cubbage of Lee came mighty close, recording a 182-5. Phil Davis of Springbrook was third in the discus, letting it fly to 169-6.

Bethel High of Hampton, Va. won the overall team title with 70 points, winning the 440 relay in record time, the sprint medley relay, the 880, 880 relay and the triple jump.

IN THE LEAGUE races [where a competitor is ranked only with those in the event who are in his division], Whitman won the AA with 76 points, followed by Bethel with 73 1/2 and Crossland, 70. Friendly was the A League winner with 114, to 99 for both Edison and Fairmont Heights and 56 for Northwood. Spingarn took the BC crown with 124 points to 99 for runner-up Georgetown Prep and 58 for Rockville.

In all, 37 of the 54 teams entered in the meet scored points in the overall competition.

Photo 1: Journal Photo by Mike Bredhoff. SPRINGBROOK'S PHIL DAVIS finished third in the discus at MAgruder with a throw of 169-feet, six-inches.
Photo 2: CHRIS KELLEY of Whitman wins the 100-yard dash with a 9.9. He also helped Whitman to the AA team title with a second in the 220.
Photo 3: Journal Photo by Mike Bredhoff. JOHN PHILBIN of his was to a Magruder Invitational meet record pole vault of 13-7. The Peary vaulter broke the four-year old record of 13-6 set by Churchill's Scott O'Connell.