Penn Relays: Local Runners' Humbling Experience

Photo Caption: Journal Photo by Bill McDowell. Carolyn Hughes of B-CC and Linda Portasik of Fort Hunt run shoulder-to-shoulder in the 3200-meter relay at last weekend's Penn Relay Carnival at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Fort Hunt finished fourth in the race; B-CC, third. Although both teams did well, William Penn of Philadelphia set a national high school record in the event, breaking the record set by Brooklyn Tech of New York City in a trial the day before.

By William M. McDowell
Journal Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA - The Penn Relays are like a good, big meal. They're a joy to devour but because of their sheer quantity often difficult to digest.

The 85th running of the Penn Relays here at Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania was no different. The sheer magnitude of this meet is a bit overwhelming. For the athlete they are both exhilarating and humbling. Exhilarating because the Penn Relays bring together most of the East Coast's top collegiate and high school track and field athletes to go head-to-head for three days of non-stop action, and humbling because champions get blown off the track here with clockwork regularity.

And it was against this backdrop that Ft. Hunt and Bethesda-Chevy Chase's girls 3200-meter relay teams lined up a final time this season to decide who indeed could put the four best half-milers on the track. By the time Thursday's qualifying trials and Friday's championship finals were over, the B-CC quartet of Carolyn Hughes, Laurie Douglas, Ella Frederickson, and Cathy Rattray had established itself as the best in the Washington area.

Both teams won their qualifying heats on Thursday to make it into the championship finals. B-CC won its heat in 9:23.3, and Ft. Hunt clocked a 9:27.1 to win its heat, but up front, New York City's Brooklyn Tech High School burned up the track, setting a new national high school record of 9:06.9 with Philadelphia's William Penn clocking a 9:10.2, the days' second fastest qualifying time.

In Friday's championship finals, the opening 1600 meters were deceiving. Ft. Hunt's Linda Portasik and B-CC's Carolyn Hughes (who had been switched from anchor to leadoff) took control of the race in a hurry with Portasik leading at the exchange with a 2:10 split and Hughes handing off in 2:11.

Ft. Hunt's second leg, Sue Miley, and B-CC's Douglas were almost even at the end of their two laps with Douglas turning a 2:18.5 for her 800 meters and Miley clocking a 2:19.4, and both Ft. Hunt and B-CC appeared to be very much in control. But on the third leg, the complexion of the race changed rapidly in the first 300 yards as Brooklyn Tech's Rudelle Sargeant and William Penn's Val Fisher took charge, hammering out to the front ahead of B-CC's Frederickson and Ft. Hunt's Nancy Davis. Both local girls ran almost identical 2:24 plus splits, but by the final exchange, it was clear that B-CC and Ft. Hunt were dueling for third place Penn Relays medals and the top spot in the Washington area.

William Penn's Cynchia Colquitt put William Penn in the lead for good as the Philadelphia school destroyed the day-old national record with a winning 8:59.7. B-CC's Rattray clocked a tough 2:18.5 to pull away from Ft. Hunt's Leigh Breen on the anchor leg with Breen splitting a 2:22.9. B-CC finished third in 9:10.4 (under the original national record of 9:11.4), and Ft. Hunt was fourth in 9:16.9.

Carolyn Hughes explained the strategy B-CC employed for its battle with Ft. Hunt.

"I went to the lead off leg because I've run Linda (Portasik) more and I thought I could judge a little better what she was going to do. Cathy (Rattray) had run really well from behind yesterday (in the trials), and we thought she could do it again today."

And in the final analysis, it was Rattray who blew things open for B-CC on the anchor leg.

The Washington area did produce two champions, and both were from Prince George's County. Fairmont Heights' quartet of Ronny Franklin (1:58.5), Darryl Gill (1:55.2), Tyrone Cross (1:56.1), formerly of T.C. Williams, and John Wallace (1:53.1) won the 3200-meter relay in a battle with Ferguson of Newport News. And Aileen O'Connor of High Point High School and the CYO Track Club won the two-mile run in 10:18.3.

O'Connor's CYO teammate Jill Haworth of Bowie High School had finished second in the girls mile run championships just minutes before O'Connor won the two-mile, and she was waiting for her at the trackside afterwards.

Haworth finished three seconds behind Kim Gallagher of Upper Dublin, a 5-foot-3, 93-pound sophomore, who won in 4:49.2, shaving seven seconds off of the meet record.

Both Hughes of B-CC and Portasik of Ft. Hunt were scheduled to compete in the mile, but both were forced to scratch because of the lack of time between their heats of the 3200-meter relay and the mile.

One of the top individual performances turned in by a local runner on the boy's side was by Bo Parker of Landon on Friday in the two-mile run. Parker turned a 9:09.9 in the "slow" heat to finish third overall. His Landon teammate Don Kerwin ran second to Parker in the slow heat and finished fifth overall in 9:12.9.

In the college events, George Mason University's Chuck Wimberly found himself placed in the championship section of the 5,000-meter run and finished a highly respectable ninth in 4:19 after running a 4:29 opening mile, his second fastest two mile ever at 9:08, and a 13:48 split at the 3-mile mark.

The race was contested in a downpour, a condition which plagued all three days of competition here.

"He was roaring," said GMU coach John Cook, who tried unsuccessfully to get his freshman star moved into the college division meet.

"Chuck could have won it easily," said Cook. But race meet officials refused to shift him out of the championship race, which was won by Alan Scharsu of Penn State in 13:48.5.

"We said to hell with it," said Cook. "We'll line up with the big boys."

In the college division 5,000 meters, GMU's Matt Wilson placed second in the 14:28.6 and freshman Mike Staffor was fifth in 14:32.

Kevin Jackson, GMU's outstanding high jumper, finished second in the college division high jump after a marathon jump off with Perry Riggs of Houston. Both jumpers missed four attempts at 7 feet even and the bar was lowered to 6-10, where neither jumper could clear. The bar was then lowered to 6-9 with both jumpers clearing that height, and the bar was again raised to 6-10. Neither jumper could clear and the bar went back down to 6-9, where Riggs cleared but Jackson could not.