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Annual Cross County Relays Today
Bulldogs Aim for 4th Woodward Title
By Katy Williams
Special to the Journal
What does Wabash College in Indiana have to do with anything east of Chicago?
Thanks to the small-town school, and its cross country coach that tries so hard to recruit athletes, the Woodward Relays kick off the varsity cross country season this afternoon.
The story goes like this.
When Woodward cross country coach Corky Logsdon turned to his partner, Greg Dunston, five years ago, he said, "Let's do something different this season."
Dunston had recently received the college brochure and newspaper clippings about the team from the Wabash coach, anxious to lure area athletes to his school. One clipping described the Wabash Relays, a type of meet with six teams of two runners each circling the track, one mile at a time, until six miles were completed.
Dunston liked the style of the race. He wrote a letter to the coach - "I think it was coach Johnson" - and asked questions in hopes of bringing the same kind of race to Montgomery County.
And coach Johnson didn't write back - he telephoned Dunston the night he received the letter, direct from Wabash, Indiana.
"He told me things like how to set up the lanes for runners, how to keep confusion to a minimum," Dunston said. "I think it was a neat thing that he called me like that."
That was five years ago. Since then, Churchill has claimed the "Woodward Relays" trophy three of the four years, tying with Georgetown Prep one of those years.
So far as Dunston and Corky Logsdon knows, the relay style race - teams of two alternating miles until six are completed - is the only high school race of its kind. Anywhere.
"It's really a workout in competitive form," Dunston explained. "The kids do a long interval workout with repeat miles. It's a nice way to run."
And when Kennedy standouts Ed Boggess and Peter Kirk set the meet record in 1974, as the only pair ever to race under 30 minutes, they made the Woodward Relays just that - a workout.
Boggess and Kirk ran the five miles down Randolph Road from Kennedy to Woodward, did the three miles as their interval work, and ran the five miles home again.
Einstein's Gary Hopkins and Richard Reed, were the winners last year, surprising all.
Hopkins is back to defend his title. With Reed graduated, the senior 1977 state cross country champion will team with Einstein sophomore Bernie Altman.
Team awards will go to schools whose top three team pairs finish highest. The first 25 pairs will receive individual awards, and the top 12 girl duos will be awarded, also.
"This meet is for kids who sometimes don't have a chance to shine at other times in the season," Dunston said. "We award them for what they do at our meet."
Landon, a first-time entry led by junior Donny Kerwin and senior Bo Parker, is expected to challenge the Bulldogs, looking for their fourth title. Seneca Valley is also a consideration to dethrone Churchill.
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