Overbrook was first in the '38 and '39 distance medley.
The Go Patrol, of Benjamin Franklin High, was next.
In '75, Clinton Young, Greg Moore, Thomas Raynor and Bennett Long took first place in the 4 x 110-yard relay in 42.4 seconds.
In '76, with the total distance having been altered slightly from 440 yards to 400 meters, Bernard Long, Young, Moore and Bennett Long repeated in 41.0, a Relays and (still-standing) state record. Also that day, the same four guys clocked 3:14.8 in the 4 x 400 C of A to set another state record. They finished third, however, behind Calabar, of Jamaica, and Mt. Vernon (N.Y.).
Franklin was coached in those years by Jim Redmond and assistant Al Hill. But much of The Go Patrol's guidance and inspiration, Hill acknowledges, was provided by Ron Lockman, the barbershop owner, and his sidekick, George "Papa Bear" Williams.
Williams, 52, is now a cook at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He related how Lockman started a track club called the Inner City Striders and recruited youngsters from the Strawberry Mansion section of North Philadelphia, and nearby.
The Long twins (Bernard is older by 18 minutes) lived near 17th and Jefferson. Young and Moore lived close to the barbershop, at 33rd and Cumberland.
The youngsters first made their mark in school track at Strawberry Mansion Junior High. In '74, the Longs, Carl Namons and Moore clocked 45.1 to set a record in the 4 x 110-yard relay for the city's public junior highs. Everybody
went on to Franklin as Mansion was not yet a high school.
"Ron was always in the background," Williams said, "but he's the one who deserves the most credit. We traveled all over to age-group meets with money right out of Ron's pocket."
Bernard Long, who works for the postal service, is the only '76 recordsetter who still lives in Philadelphia. Moore, a sales representative, lives in South Jersey. Bennett Long and Young are in the armed forces.
