Track Teams Well-Matched at Woodward Relays

By Katy Williams
Special to the Journal


Journal Photo by Bobby Pusey
It was close at the wire in the fast heat of the girls 440 relay and Springbrook's Lisa Mundy edged out B-CC's Cathy Rattray. But Northwood, running in the slower first heat, came away with the 440 Championship at the Woodward Relays.

Not for a long time have the county's track teams seemed so well matched. That's what runners and coaches found at the Woodward Relays Saturday when 24 boys and 18 girls teams - the largest field yet - faced each other in a mid-season review of team strengths.

That Churchill, the team that had already captured three of five Woodward Relay titles, and Bethesda-Chevy Chase, with its combination of versatile performers, came away champions is not surprising. That other teams were grouped so closely behind is suprising. The Bulldoges, who won only four of 14 events, came away with 66 point. Peary, next with 48, led the group of Walter Johnson, Gaithersburg, Blair and Springbrook that gathered between 46 (WJ) and 34 points (Springbrook).

"So many teams were so close that I didn't know that we were second," Peary coach Tom Nawrocki said. "I was going to find out the results the next morning in the paper."

Nawrocki learned of his team's high finish earlier, however, when he went to pick up some ribbons at the end of the afternoon. The steeplechase and co-ed relays, the final featured attraction of the relays, were long over, but the triple, long and high jumpers were still competing until 5 p.m.

The pole vault, however, was a quick event. Only two schools - Peary and Good Counsel - had three jumpers who each cleared the opening height of nine feet.

"It was unusual for my vaulters to have won with their height," said Nawrocki, whose men Grant Wagner, Emil Davis and Dorr Crosley cleared 10-6, 9-6 and 9-6.

The meet record of 36 feet by Churchill Chris Darling, Dave Garnitz and Andy Lee was not even approached.

Only two boys records were broken in the meet. Gaithersburg's Chris McGorty, Mike Westmore and Charles Moxley high jumped 18-6 to pass the old Woodward and Einstein 1977 marks by four inches.

Churchill 880 yard relay teams of Les Whites, Dave Brown, Jay Dove and Ward Wilson clipped the two year old Paint Branch time, clocking 1:31.9.

Wilson also led Churchill victories in the long and triple jump. Team mates Rich Coffin, Mark Lutterman, Eric Allgaier and Junior McDonald combined to edge Springbrook in the two mile relay.

Churchill coach Andy White thinks his team might have done better in a few events. In the hurdles, Dove hit his knee in the middle of the flight, which "cranked him down some."

White admits that Dove's fall made him "a bit pessimistic at times -" the other times when second leg Mark Huffman of the distance medley fell in handing off the baton to Chris Lockett.

Huffman hit the ground, but the baton never did. Lockett caught it, but was slow in getting out of the exchange zone. "I like for the runners to get out right behind someone, and let that runner break the wind," White said. "I'll tell you, it was windy on the track. So I worried when my runner was breaking the wind himself. That's why I stayed in the stands."

The wind factor was indeed a hindrance in the distance relays. Yet, Gary Hopkins of Einstein came from behind to beat Springbrook's Bill Kovach to the wire in the distance medley. Gaithersburg's John Ireland, the anchorman for his team, almost caught Kovach. Ireland recorded a 4:33 mile, four tenths slower than Kovach.

Walter Johnson used the same combination of Steve Lorenzetti, Mike McNamara, Leroy Howard and Bob Charette to win both the mile and sprint medley relays.

In the girls distance medley race, anchorman Carolyn Hughes of B-CC and Ruth Drengwitz of Northwood ran a tight race that did not decide the winner until the last five yard, when Hughs kicked past Drengwitz. Hughes, who received the baton with a 10 yard lead, clocked a 5:19 mile leg. Drengwitz passed Hughes on the second lap to record a 5:12 leg.

Hughes' team finished first overall with 60 points, far ahead of the Indians' 36. Walter Johnson, which teamed Alice Elsbree, Mary Williams, Mary Quintana and Terry Kane to win the sprint medley, was third overall with 32 points.

This was the fifth year of girls competition, yet only the second year for a girls team title. Defending champion Kennedy earned a single point in the 440 yard relay.

"We blew our handoffs," said Kennedy coach Al Bellman. "Some teams work with a verbal command of 'hand!' or 'go!'. We normally don't work with the verbal stuff, because a runner can take off too soon by hearing some one else's command. But we used commands that day, because we changed the line ups."

Kennedy's birght spot proved to be the co-ed relay, when Brian Godette, Yvonne Ramsey, Al Coles and Karen Rosenfeld won. Springbrook's Bill Kovach took the boys race, and B-CC's Ellen Lawrence won the girls section of the 1500 meter steeplechase.

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Rockville was one county team not present at the Woodward Relays. Coach Ed Davis reasoned, "We went to the big meets last year - this year we're giving the kids exposure to different schools and runners."

Davis' team of mostly freshmen and sophomores will compete at neither the Friendly nor Magruder Invitationals, but will instead compete at the St. Albans Classic at the Bullis School in Potomac.

Davis has included in the Rockville dual meet schedule contests with Interhigh sprint power Wilson, and the Model School for the Deaf on the Gallaudet College campus.

"Wilson is a polished quality team," Davis said. "We beat them in distance, but we wanted to go against a team that sported speed."


Journal Photos by Bobby Pusey

Out of the Action

Despite the fact that Churchill won the boys title at the Woodward Relays on Saturday, it was not a bright day for two of the Bulldogs as lead runner Mark Huffman, running the half-mile in the distance medley, fell down handing off the baton to teammate Chris Lockett, ready to take off on the quarter-mile leg of the race. Einstein won the distance medley when Gary Hopkins beat Springbrook's Bill Kovach to the wire. Churchill did win the overall title with 66 points, winning four of the meet's 14 events - including a record-breaking performance in the 880 relay by Les Whites, Dave Brown, Jay Dove and Ward Wilson.