Recount Shows Blair, Peary Tie at Woodward

By Lyn Pusey
Journal Staff Writer


Journal Photos by Kevin Chase. Emil Davis was the strong man in Peary's championship at the Woodward Relays, a championship that the Huskies had to share with Blair. Davis was on the winning shuttle hurdle, pole vault and long jump teams for Peary.

The outcome of Saturday's Woodward Relays was much like an election that isn't decided until the absentee ballots are counted. Walking away from the track on Saturday, Peary was the announced boys champion with 61 points. Blair was second with 55 points.

But when the votes, so to speak, were challenged, the Blazers were given an extra five points and a share of the boys title.

"It was just a mistake," said Blair coach Bob Deffinbaugh, "but we had been given a slower time and after checking the times of the other teams in our heat I questioned the official score."

What happened was nothing more than a slip of a pen. The Blazers had run 3:38.6 in the sprint medley but it was written down as a 3:48.6. "I knew that we had only finished two or three seconds not 13 seconds behind Churchill," said Deffinbaugh. "I checked with the other coaches [from the last heat] and they backed me up." The difference in time pushed the Blazers from sixth in the event to to third, behind winner Kennedy (3:33.3) and Churchill (3:35.2).

Blair's co-championship with Peary was highlighted by its field event teams and, in particular, George Saah who set an area record in the shot put with a heave of 65-3, breaking Phil Vincenzes' mark of 64-06 3/4 set for Edison in 1976.

"It was one fantastic throw," said Deffinbaugh of Saah's record-setter. "All of his throws were good but that one was absolutely perfect."

Leon Evans and Tony Lewis teamed with Saah to win both the shot put and discus while the Blazers also captured the triple jump relay and the 880. A dropped baton in the 440 relay was termed "a real killer" by Deffinbaugh, who also saw his team scratch from the long jump competition.

Peary again used its depth to get its 61 points and again it was Emil Davis who led the way. Davis was on the record-breaking shuttle hurdles relay for the Huskies along with Skip Robinson, Mitch Frid and John Hanson; and he teamed with Grant Wagner and Jeff Torri to win the pole vault; and with Darren Henderson and Andy Barlow to win the long jump.

The girls meet went pretty much as expected with B-CC winning six of the nine events - and three of their victories were in record-breaking times. Carolyn Hughes, like Davis for the Peary boys, was the catalyst for the Barons' effort. She was on the winning distance medley team with Mary Beth Cooney, Nancy Obenland and Laurie Douglass; with Cathy Rattray, Douglass and Ella Frederiksen on the two mile relay; and with Rattray, Douglass and Joyce Gearhart on the mile relay.

The Barons also got victories in the shuttle hurdles and the sprint medley. Only Blair in the 880 and 440 relays could crack the B-CC stranglehold on first place finishes.

For the Blazers, who put together the best boys-girls 1-2 punch in the meet, sprinters Michelle Burkes, Denise Nero, Merrill Smith and Debbie Murphy collected the winning honors for second place overall.

"We have some fantastic girls sprinters," said Deffinbaugh. "Debbie has to be the best in the area. Anywhere from 100 to 400 yards she can beat everybody."

In the boys meet, Landon won the distance medley and the four-mile relay, both in record-breaking times. John Schlep, Tim Aiken, Don Kerwin and Bo Parker ran a 10:17.6 to shatter Kennedy's five-year-old record by 15 seconds; and then Schlep, Parker and Kerwin were joined by Andy Spence for a 18:04.6 in the four-mile event, knocking Gaithersburg's five-year-old record from the books.

While Landon took the distance events, Kennedy won a pair of sprint events - the sprint medley and 440 relay - and the mile relay to pace its third-place finish. Leonard Parker, Reggie Johnson, Joe Hines and Al Coles ran a 43.0 in the 440 for the Cavaliers; Johnson, Parker, Coles and Brian Godette clocked a 3:33.3 in the sprint medley; and the same four combined for a 3:24.9 in the mile relay.

John Rauskasakas won the non-pointed steeplechase that is the feature event of the Woodward Relays. By the time that the steeplechase was run, the warm sun was beginning to show signs of affecting the bodies - and maybe the minds - of the runners. As many runners who crossed over the hurdles, an equal number found happiness in the water pit.


Journal Photos by Kevin Chase. Blair captured its share of the Woodward title with victories in the 880 relay (above left, handoff from Derrick Carrington to Victor Lee) in the boys competition and also placed second in the girls, thanks to victories in the 880 and 440 (with Merrill Smith, above center, the third leg of each). Defending champion Churchill was sixth, winning only the two-mile relay (above right, Junior McDonald handing off to Fritz Canby). B-CC dominated yet another meet to win the girls title with six victories.


Journal Photo by Kevin Chase. Brian Godette of Kennedy maintains his lead on Churchill as the Cavaliers went on to win the sprint medley relay with Godette as the anchor. Kennedy, which placed third, also won the 440 relay and was second to Churchill in the two-mile relay.